WALES

Miners' Compensation

Dai Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received on the operation of miners' compensation schemes in Wales.

Nick Ainger: I Chair regular meetings of the Wales Monitoring Group, which meets to discuss progress and the operation of the miners compensation schemes in Wales. The group last met on 6 February 2006. We are continuing to make good progress in settling claims and to date, over £570 million has been paid to former Welsh miners and their families.

Departmental Finance

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many cases of financial irregularities have been recorded in his Department in each of the last five financial years; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: None.

Departmental Staff

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many jobs in his Department have been relocated to Wales since 2001.

Peter Hain: None. The Wales Office is a small Department (which is part of the wider Department for Constitutional Affairs). Staff are split between offices in Cardiff and London. Approximately 30 percent. of Wales Office staff are based in Cardiff.

World Heritage Sites

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which minister in his Department has responsibility for issues relating to world heritage sites.

Peter Hain: Lead responsibility for policy on world heritage sites rests with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport works closely with relevant Government Departments on all issues affecting world heritage sites. Within the Wales Office, I have responsibility for issues concerning world heritage sites.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan/Iraq

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the value of UK development aid to (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq was in each of the last four years, broken down by sector.

Hilary Benn: Since April 2002, DFID's assistance to Iraq, in cash terms to date, has been as follows (in millions):
	
		£ million
		
			 Sector 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 Humanitarian Emergency (UN 2003 Appeals and International Red Cross) 8.4 94.2 10 4.3 
			 Infrastructure (Reconstruction in Southern Iraq) — 16.9 16.7 32.6 
			 Governance (Support to Government, Justice, Media and Civil Society) — 0.2 9.8 8.3 
			 Economic Reform Refund of unspent DFID contribution to the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) — 8.8 1.7 2.8 -4.5 
			 DFID Secondments, and Assistance to the Coalition Provisional Authority — 14.8 9.4 0.1 
			 Trust Fund—International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) — 70  — 
			 NGO Assistance 10.4 5.1 1.7 0.4 
			 Totals 18.8 210 49.3 44 
		
	
	DFID's current programme in southern Iraq includes:
	£40 million for infrastructure to deliver improved power and water services
	£20.5 million to build the institutional capacity of the four southern governorates and to support private sector development
	£7.4 million for a team of technical specialists to advise local councils, the military and other donors on infrastructure reconstruction
	£6.7 million to strengthen independent radio and TV broadcasting
	£16 million for emergency infrastructure, working closely with UK military
	In central Iraq, we have allocated:
	£13 million to assist the Iraqi Government on economic reform issues
	£13.25 million to build the capacity of key central government offices, including the Prime Minister's office, to manage government business effectively
	£5 million Civil Society Fund to support the development of legitimate and representative Iraqi NGOs
	£7.5 million Political Participation Fund, to encourage poor and marginalized sections of Iraqi society to engage in the political process
	£2.3 million to support the justice sector
	We also work through the international system, as a member of the donor core group, and as a contributor to the United Nations and World Bank Trust Funds for Iraq (£70 million contributed in 2004). DFID is working with the Iraqi Government, multilaterals, and other donors to achieve a more coordinated and Iraqi-led reconstruction and development effort.
	The following table shows total bilateral development aid provided to Afghanistan by the UK Government broken down by sector in each of the last four years (in millions):
	
		£ million
		
			 Sector 2002–03(1) 2003–04(1) 2004–05(1) 2005–06(2) 
		
		
			 Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund 15 30 55 35 
			 Public Administration Reform and Economic Management 1.3 24 3.8 12.2 
			 Private Sector — 0.3 1.6 2.5 
			 Livelihoods 0.3 6.3 7.8 47.5 
			 Political process and Security Sector Reform 0.5 9.2 5 5.2 
			 Arrears clearance 12.7 0 0 0 
			 Humanitarian 44.5 10 6.3 0 
			 Total 74.3 79.8 79.4 102.4 
		
	
	(1) Actual
	(2) Forecast
	Further details of both programmes will be found on our website at www.dfid.gov.uk

Congo Brazzaville

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much foreign aid was given to Congo Brazzaville in (a) 2002, (b) 2003, (c) 2004 and (d) 2005.

Hilary Benn: The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors 1 have given Congo Brazzaville the following levels of aid (net official development assistance):
	1 The DAC donors are: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
	
		
			 Calendar year £ million 
		
		
			 2002 38.25 
			 2003 42.74 
			 2004 63.28 
		
	
	The aid flows for the calendar year 2005 have not been published yet. The figures comprise both bilateral aid given directly by DAC donors and multilateral contributions (given through institutions such as the World Bank, the United Nations and the African Development Bank).
	The UK's bilateral aid to Congo Brazzaville was £210,000 in 2002, £2.43 million in 2003 and £2.66 million in 2004. About 80 per cent. of this aid was for debt relief in 2003 and 2004. Funds were also provided for the prevention of sleeping sickness and, in 2003, for the control of an Ebola haemorrhagic fever outbreak.

Democracy Building (Developing World)

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much of his Department's total budget for 2005–06 expressed (a) in cash and (b) as a proportion of total spending will be spent on democracy-building in the developing world.

Hilary Benn: DFID tracks expenditure on programmes which include governance amongst the objectives. This is a broad category covering different aspects of state building and the building blocks for democracy. It includes for example support to improve poor people's participation in the decision making process with government, and building capacity in government to improve its accountability to citizens. DFID's bilateral expenditure on programmes which include governance amongst the objectives is £224 million to date (15 February 2005) in 2005–06 or 12.5 per cent. of total spending of £1.8 billion. The figure includes £12 million to date (15 February 2005), or 0.7 per cent. of total spending of £1.8 billion, on programmes supporting elections and electoral processes. Forecasts for the entire financial year are however, not yet available.

Democratic Republic of Congo

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps are being taken by his Department to assist victims of violence and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with particular reference to victims of sexual violence.

Hilary Benn: The continuing high levels of sexual violence and human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reflect the prevailing culture of impunity in the DRC. The UK is working with the international community to deal with the causes and symptoms of this.
	We are supporting humanitarian agencies to provide medical assistance to victims of sexual violence, particularly in the Eastern DRC. We have recently started to fund the Norwegian non-governmental organisation (NGO) Christian Relief Network to set up and run a wing in Panzi hospital, South Kivu, treating women suffering from fistula—which is one of the most serious and devastating consequences of sexual violence. Their programme includes psychological support for patients as well as medical treatment. We are also supporting the International Committee of the Red Cross, who have recently launched a gender based violence pilot programme in the East. The UK will be spending approximately £27 million this financial year on humanitarian and health service delivery projects in the DRC through the UN and NGOs. Many of these provide assistance to victims of sexual violence and we remain ready to support other appropriate and effective interventions in this area.
	It is also vital to tackle the underlying causes of sexual violence and other abuses of human rights. One of the ways to end the cycle of human rights violations in the DRC is to end the conflict in the country and the whole Great Lakes region. Conflict reduction is the major focus of the UK's engagement in the DRC. We have consistently pushed the Congolese transitional government for faster progress in a number of areas that are critical for making the democratic process a success and avoiding a return to conflict, notably preparations for elections, security sector reform, disarming militias and ending corruption.
	The UK has also been working with the DRC authorities and non-governmental organisations to try and start reforming the Congolese justice sector and restoring the rule of law, to reduce the culture of impunity that allows sexual violence to happen and those responsible to go unpunished. At a local level in the East we are also support NGOs who are promoting dialogue and peacebuilding work between communities previously in conflict.
	Ill-disciplined and underpaid members of the Congolese armed forces (FARDC-Forces Armees de la Republique Democratique du Congo) also create insecurity for local communities. The UK and international partners presented a dossier to President Kabila on 23 January this year cataloguing the most serious abuses carried out by FARDC soldiers, urging that the soldiers concerned be brought to justice.

Multilateral Institutions

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) funding and (b) technical support his Department has provided to each multilateral agency that it supported in each of the last three years.

Hilary Benn: The following table details the funding DFID has provided to each multilateral agency we have supported in the last three years:
	
		DFID expenditure on multilateral contributions
		
			 £000 
			  DFID programme 
			  2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 European Community
			 European Development Fund 132545 230883 253655 
			 European Commission National Experts 1571 1419 1206 
			 European Investment Bank 3108 3034 2598 
			 EC Attribution 733505 796058 640780 
			 Total European Community 870729 1031394 898239 
			 
			 World Bank Group
			 International Development Association 220290 381120 205140 
			 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) 0 0 0 
			 International Finance Corporation 577 576 242 
			 World Bank Group TC 1072 898 1073 
			 Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency 0 0 0 
			 Total World Bank Group 221939 382594 206455 
			 
			 IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility 11434 9417 1767 
			 
			 Global Environmental Assistance 27253 61133 52368 
			 
			 HIPC Trust Fund Payments 17855 19949 42123 
			 
			 Regional Development Banks
			 African Development Bank 1026 1051 841 
			 African Devlopment Fund 33198 32033 34602 
			 Asian Development Bank 1091 936 689 
			 Asian Development Fund 26103 23935 21864 
			 Caribbean Development Fund 5319 0 3286 
			 Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) 398 182 0 
			 IADB Fund for Special Operations 0 0 0 
			 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) 15082 16788 15898 
			 Multilateral Development Bank TC 8430 5466 4985 
			 Total Regional Development Banks 90647 80391 82165 
			 
			 Commonwealth
			 Commonwealth Foundation 428 253 272 
			 Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation 5963 5579 7309 
			 Commonwealth Science Council 266 0 0 
			 Commonwealth Youth Programme 697 726 719 
			 Pacific Community 0 0 0 
			 Other Commonwealth 265 112 252 
			 Total Commonwealth 7619 6670 8552 
			  
			 UN Agencies
			 Food and Agricultural Organisation(3) 6129 6323 6872 
			 International Atomic Energy Authority 0 0 0 
			 International Fund for Agricultural Development 3000 5299 7899 
			 International Labour Ogranisation 1387 4176 4200 
			 Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs 3413 4507 4511 
			 UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) 18807 23646 17229 
			 UN AIDS 3052 3000 8069 
			 UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) 17366 17303 19771 
			 UN Development Programme (UNDP) 44934 42791 43039 
			 UN Drugs Control Programmes 0 0 0 
			 UN Environment Programme 0 0 0 
			 UNESCO(4) 3324.5 2864.5 2713.5 
			 UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) 14432 14484 19916 
			 UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) 3560 3846 3844 
			 UN Population Fund 9000 18100 20038 
			 UN Regular Budget 0 0 0 
			 World Food Programme(5) 8 1415 2498 
			 World Health Organisation (WHO) 34156 34427 27689 
			 World Meteorological Organisation 0 0 0 
			 Other UN Agencies 4313 5718 5791 
			 Total UN Agencies(6) 166882 187900 194080 
			 
			 International Research Organisations
			 Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) 7464 7633 16071 
			 Of which:
			 Int Centre for Agric Research in the Dry Areas 560 560 780 
			 Int Centre for Living Aquatic Resources M'ment 254 345 500 
			 Int Centre for Tropical Agriculture 636 523 720 
			 Int Crop Research Inst for the Semi-Arid Tropics 760 750 1200 
			 Int Food Policy Research Institute 249 190 869 
			 Int Institute for Tropical Agriculture 650 673 620 
			 Int Irrigation Management Institute 59 0 2869 
			 Int Livestock Research Institute 730 1050 1538 
			 Int Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre 830 780 3590 
			 Int Plant Genetics Resources Institute 731 650 910 
			 Int Potato Centre 717 702 640 
			 Int Rice Research Institute 858 750 1120 
			 Int Service for National Agricultural Research 200 430 290 
			 West Africa Rice Development Association 230 230 425 
			 CAB International 425.5 650 850 
			 Int Centre for Dev Research in Agriculture 162 140 250 
			 Other International Research 61 0 700 
			 Total International Research Organisations 8112.5 8423 17871 
			 
			 Total multilateral contributions 1422470 1787871 1503620 
		
	
	(3) This includes only contributions to the FAO which are counted as aid.
	(4) This includes only contributions to UNESCO which are counted as aid.
	(5) This is the regular programme of food aid. It does not include emergency food aid which is classified as bilateral humanitarian expenditure.
	(6) In addition to these core contributions, DFID also channels some bilateral expenditure through UN agencies. The total amount spent through UN organisations is estimated to be in the region of £300 million annually.
	Note:
	Memo—contributions from DFID funds which are not reportable to DAC and so excluded from within the table:
	Food and Agricultural Organisation: (£000)
	2002–03—5889
	2003–04—6076
	2004–05—6603
	UNESCO: (£000)
	2002–03—9974
	2003–04—8594
	2004–05—8141
	Source:
	Statistics on International Development 2005.

Nigeria

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of levels of corruption in Nigeria; and what steps are being taken by his Department to promote and support good governance there.

Hilary Benn: As for other countries, DFID's assessment of corruption and governance in Nigeria draws on a range of analysis, including that by the World Bank and by national and international non-governmental organisations. DFID's own Drivers of Change analysis, undertaken in 2004, highlighted Nigeria's history of systematic mismanagement of oil revenues as one of the main constraints to poverty reduction in Nigeria. In 2005, DFID and other development partners supported a national benchmarking of State governments, which measured a range of governance indicators, including what each State has done to address corruption. DFID is currently working with the World Bank to undertake a review of public financial management at Federal and State level, using the internationally agreed Public Expenditure Financial Accountability (PEFA) benchmarks.
	Improved governance is one of the three pillars of Nigeria's poverty reduction strategy, the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). As part of its support to NEEDS, DFID is providing technical support for reforms in public financial management and service delivery systems at both Federal and State level. At the Federal level, DFID supports reforms which are being implemented by a team of Ministers put in place by President Obasanjo following the 2003 elections. Discernible progress has been made on economic reform and on fighting corruption. At State level, DFID is focusing its support on a group of states that have shown, particularly through the benchmarking exercise noted earlier, that they are committed to better governance and transparency.
	DFID is also supporting reforms in the police and justice sector, along with support for measures to improve the electoral process in 2003 and 2007. DFID will shortly launch a new programme of assistance to enhance the capacity of the National Assembly.
	Nigeria is leading the world in taking forward the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to promote transparency in the use of oil revenue. Complementing the support which DFID has provided for the EITI globally, DFID in Nigeria has provided specific technical and financial support to a unit in the Finance Ministry responsible for coordinating audits of oil and gas revenue.
	DFID and the FCO are jointly providing technical support to the work of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of a number of high profile corruption cases in recent months. EFCC investigations have led to the early retirement and subsequent imprisonment of the Inspector General of Police, the removal of the Education Minister and the resignation of the Senate President. Most recently, EFCC provided evidence that led to the impeachment of the former Governor of Bayelsa State, after he jumped bail on money laundering charges in the UK. The former Governor is now being prosecuted in Nigeria.
	The UK's support to EFCC is designed to complement a much larger programme of support from the EC.

Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much is expected to be saved as a result of meeting the civil service work force reductions targets for his Department set out in the 2004 Spending Review; and whether these savings count towards the agreed efficiency target for his Department set out in the review.

Hilary Benn: The savings that are expected as a result of DFID's headcount reductions, as set out in the 2004 Spending Review, will be part of DFID's overall Administration Cost efficiency gain which will amount to £20 million by the end of 2007–08 in 2007–08 prices.
	The civil service reductions in headcount are expected to account for at least £5 million of this efficiency gain, although precise figures for these savings cannot yet be provided because the grades and locations of posts that are to be discontinued have not yet been finalised.

TRANSPORT

Airport Standards (Adverse Weather)

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the performance standards are for (a) the British Airports Authority plc and (b) other airport operators in relation to continued operations during adverse weather conditions; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: There are no service performance standards for airport operators in relation to the continuance of operations during adverse weather conditions. The paramount consideration is to maintain a high standard of safety in all weather conditions.

Cargo Transfers

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 21 November 2005, Official Report, column 1538W, on cargo transfers, who decides whether ship-to-ship transfers of oil and other chemicals may or may not take place (a) in harbour authority areas and (b) elsewhere in UK territorial waters.

Stephen Ladyman: In harbour authority areas, it is for the harbour authority to decide whether ship-to-ship transfers may take place—provided that the harbour authority has an oil spill contingency plan, approved by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which covers such activities. Elsewhere in UK territorial waters, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has non-statutory arrangements and procedures under which ship owners and operators are expected to notify the Maritime and Coastguard Agency of the intention to carry out a ship-to-ship transfer, and to carry out such transfers according to best practice. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency monitors the conduct of such ship-to-ship transfers.

Commuters (Greater London)

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of commuters who travel into the Greater London Authority area for work purposes.

Derek Twigg: The 2005 London Travel Report states that the number of workers in Greater London who reside outside that area totalled 706,000 in 2004. The report can be found on Transport for London's website at httD://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/ltr/london-travel-report-2005.pdf.

Concessionary Travel

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many councils have indicated that their proportion of the £350 million grant will be insufficient to fund the bus concessionary fare scheme in their area.

Stephen Ladyman: The general consensus is that the extra £350 million for 2006–07 will be sufficient in aggregate to fund the additional cost to local authorities.
	Since the consultation on the distribution of the new formula for distributing the £350 million closed on 10 October 2005, 18 local authorities from among a total of 292 travel concession authorities, have made representations to the Department, or the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, about the funding for concessionary fares.

Concessionary Travel

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which local authorities have reported a shortfall in their funding for free bus travel for pensioners; and what steps each has taken to make up the shortfall.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 10 March 2006
	The general consensus is that the extra £350 million for 2006–07 will be sufficient in aggregate to fund the extra cost to local authorities.
	Since the consultation on the distribution of the new formula for distributing the £350 million closed on 10 October 2005, the following 18 local authorities from amongst a total of 292 travel concession authorities, have made representations to the Department, or the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, about the funding for concessionary fares:
	Carlisle; Castle Morpeth; Chorley; Eden; Fareham; Gloucester; Guildford; Mid Suffolk; Pendle; Preston; Salisbury; Southampton; South Oxfordshire; Tewkesbury; Three Rivers; Trafford/Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority; Torbay; and Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority.
	It is for local authorities to deicide on their overall funding priorities based on their judgement of local need and circumstances.

Delayed/Cancelled Flights

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to ensure that airlines comply with their obligations to passengers on delayed and cancelled flights under Regulation (EC) 261/2004 and related European Court of Justice rulings; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: Council Regulation 261/2004 entered into force on 17 February 2005. Member states are responsible for designating an appropriate body responsible for enforcing the provisions of the Regulation as regards flights departing from airports within their territories.
	In the UK, the Air Transport Users Council (AUC) initially manages passenger complaints under this legislation and may, in appropriate cases, intervene on a passenger's behalf to secure a satisfactory resolution if the Regulation has not been properly applied. The Regulation creates directly applicable rights, so where this is not possible a passenger is able to pursue an individual claim for compensation through the Small Claims Court.
	Where the AUC identifies evidence of systematic or repeated non-compliance with the provisions of the Regulation, it may refer the matter to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UK's designated enforcement body for this legislation, to consider appropriate action. The CAA has the power to commence criminal proceedings against any airline within its jurisdiction that consistently ignores the requirements of the Regulation. The penalty, on conviction, is a fine of up to £5,000 for each offence.

Digital Tachographs

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact on the (a) cost and (b) sales of trucks of the introduction of digital tachographs; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The introduction of digital tachographs is not expected to have a significant impact on the initial purchase cost of new heavy goods vehicles. The short-term impact on heavy goods vehicle sales will depend on whether or not operators defer new purchases until their employees are trained to use the new technology.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency gives to organisations other than the police which can access its information on car registrations and owners on appropriate use of the information.

Stephen Ladyman: Information on the DVLA vehicle register is released to those legally entitled to receive it. DVLA has an obligation under various statutes to release information to local authorities and government bodies. The use of the information released under these provisions is prescribed in the legislation. Use of information outside of these provisions will be referred to the Information Commissioner as appropriate.
	A review of the regulations governing the release of data is currently under way. I refer the hon. Member to my written statement of 2 December 2005, Official Report, columns 50–51WS.

Fuel Quality Directive

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to review the European Union Fuel Quality Directive; what timetable he envisages for such a review; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The European Commission is currently reviewing the European Fuels Directive, 98/70/EC, as amended. Stakeholders have been asked to submit comments, and these are published on-line at http://forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/env/fuel_quality/home
	The Government are encouraging the European Commission to amend the relevant fuel quality standards so as to allow higher percentages of biofuel to be blended into regular petrol and diesel. The Commission has confirmed in its recent Biofuels Strategy (available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/biomass/biofuel/com2006_34 _en.pdf) that it will review the current standards during 2006, with a view to increasing the 5 per cent. biofuel inclusion limit.

MAVIS

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport where the Mobility Advice and Vehicle Information Service (MAVIS) is located; what acreage of land it occupies; what the terms of the current lease are; what the possibility of renewing the lease is; how many people (a) are employed by the service on a permanent basis and (b) were trained in each of the last five years; what the maximum number of trainees under training was at one time in the last 12 months; how many vehicles are employed by the service; what the breakdown of training between mileage driven on the MAVIS site and mileage driven on public roads is; what sites have been identified as a possible future location for MAVIS; what consultations have taken place with (i) local authorities and (ii) other local representative bodies on a future location for MAVIS; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 20 March 2006
	The Department for Transport's mobility centre, the Mobility Advice and Vehicle Information Service (MAVIS) holds a lease of part of O" Wing at the Crowthorne Business Estate at Crowthorne in Berkshire at an open market rent which expires on 30 March 2011. The lease is protected under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 which gives, in some circumstances, the right to extend the lease. A track agreement with a different lessor is held by MAVIS nearby to the O" Wing property.
	Ten staff are currently employed at the MAVIS with one vacancy due to be filled shortly. The MAVIS as an organisation does not train disabled drivers but assesses older and disabled drivers and passengers. Over the last five years it has carried out on average 507 driving and passenger assessments per year. The MAVIS currently has 30 vehicles, the majority adapted for the assessment of drivers with disabilities, but we do not record separately the number of miles driven on the highway compared to those driven on the Small Road System.
	We are investigating whether it is possible to remain at the Crowthorne site and considering alternative sites for the MAVIS. This work is still continuing but alternative sites .that have been considered so far include sites in Lee-on-Solent, Winchester, Arborfield, Salisbury and Winfrith.
	We have not held any discussions with local authorities or local representative bodies.

Network Rail

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what factors underlay the decision not to include guaranteed work levels in Network Rail's regional contractors' agreements; what estimate he has made of the relative value-for-money for each regional contract; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: Network Rail are a private company and as such these commercial matters are a matter for it alone and Ministers have no locus. Network Rail have agreed to write to the hon. Member directly.

Noise Limits

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the likely impact of Commission Decision 2006/66/EC., OJ L37 of 8 February 2006, on (a) UK noise limits for (i) pass-by freight, (ii) stationary freight, (iii) locomotives, (iv) multiple units, (v) trailers, (vi) other stock, (vii) driver's cab limits and (b) existing and planned (A) track and (B) rolling stock; what UK derogations and exceptions apply; what the estimated total cost is of required adaption; what time period is permitted; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: This decision brings in limits for externally emitted noise from trains. These have no equivalent in existing UK legislation. It also brings in short time limits for loud noise in the driver's cab which will apply as well as the longer term exposure limits set in the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005.
	New rolling stock has to comply after a transitional period of two years. The design of new UK freight rolling stock is such that it is already likely to be compliant. The UK has negotiated permanent specific cases for locomotives and diesel multiple units to allow for the constraints that the limited UK loading gauge presents to fitting onboard noise shields, but there may be a small increase for cab soundproofing in the cost of new locomotives. For refurbished rolling stock it is only necessary to demonstrate that noise has not been increased. There is no impact on track.

Package Travel

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans his Department has to review the Package Travel, Package Holidays, Package Tour Regulations Act 1992.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
	The Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/3288) implement the Package Travel Directive (90/314/EEC). The European Commission is currently in the early stages of a review of eight consumer-facing directives, including the Package Travel Directive. In preparation for this, officials have met with the main stakeholders with an interest in this market to discuss how the directive might be amended and certain aspects of the current implementing regulations. We are also engaging stakeholders through an informal on-line exercise to hear their views on this directive, the other seven directives and a piece of academic research into the implementation of them in the UK. This is available on the DTI website at www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/ecreview.htm.

Parking and Travel Appeals Service

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the work of the Parking and Travel Appeals Service.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 21 March 2006
	PATAS provides the independent adjudication service for deciding disputed parking and bus lane penalties charged by London borough councils and Transport for London (TfL) and congestion charging penalties issued by TfL.
	PATAS has a team of Adjudicators who decide the appeals and can direct London Borough Councils and TfL to cancel Penalty Charge Notices. The adjudicators are independent solicitors or barristers of at least five years standing and their decisions are binding on both parties. They are appointed by the Association of London Government's Transport and Environment Committee ALGTEC who are also responsible for paying their salaries.

Parking Tickets

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he takes to monitor the number of parking tickets issued illegally by each local authority; if he will take steps to reduce the number; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: It is for local authorities to ensure that Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) are issued in accordance with primary legislation, Regulations, local Traffic Regulation Orders and on-street signage. A Local Authority Circular 1/95 Guidance on Decriminalised Parking Enforcement Outside London" has been issued to guide them in these duties. Records are not kept centrally of the number of unlawful PCNs issued but it is likely that an appeal against such a PCN would be allowed by the parking adjudicators and local authorities pay close attention to the results of appeals. It is also likely that the local government ombudsman would accept an invitation to investigate a local authority that persistently issued PCNs that were not in accordance with the national and local regulatory framework.

Rail Services

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many train services have been (a) cancelled and (b) partially cancelled in each year since 1985; and how many scheduled train services there have been in each year since 1985.

Derek Twigg: Information for franchised passenger train services is only available for cancellations, and only from 1997–98 as follows:
	
		
			  Number of trains planned Trains cancelled Percentage of total planned trains cancelled 
		
		
			 1997–98 5,241,370 58,472 1.1 
			 1998–99 5,863,948 71,155 1.2 
			 1999–2000 5,990,375 69,257 1.2 
			 2000–01 5,976,157 135,905 2.3 
			 2001–02 5,644,651 98,001 1.7 
			 2002–03 6,160,475 96,068 1.6 
			 2003–04 6,358,490 80,693 1.3 
			 2004–05 6,234,107 75,168 1.2

SS Montgomery

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library the briefing notes for meetings held with hon. Members on 6 February and 16 March on the SS Montgomery; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: There were no briefing papers as an oral presentation only was made at the meeting on 6 February. The meeting on 16 March was postponed.
	The wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery has been the subject of regular surveys since 1965 to ascertain its condition and to consider the options for its future management. The most recent survey was in September 2005—the results of that survey are still being analysed. We are currently updating the risk assessment work and have commissioned further studies. These will be reported on in spring 2006. No decisions on the future management of the wreck will be made until all the relevant information is available.

Terrorism

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Department has taken (a) to prevent terrorist attacks on UK ports and harbours and (b) to screen cargo arriving at UK ports and harbours for hazardous materials that could be used in a terrorist attack.

Stephen Ladyman: It is not our policy to comment in detail on, or provide information relating to, the specific techniques employed to counter terrorist attacks, for very good security reasons.
	On 1 July 2004, The Department for Transport fully implemented EC Regulation 725/2004 on enhancing Ship and Port Facility Security. It aims to prevent acts of terrorism which threaten the security of passengers and crews and the safety of ships. The regulation provides for a comprehensive system of physical and procedural security measures at about 550 UK Port Facilities. These are aimed in part at deterring and preventing the threat of terrorism, including the use of hazardous materials in such attacks, in our ports and harbours.
	Screening of cargo arriving in the UK through ports and harbours is undertaken by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. Also a programme to screen cargo arriving in the UK for radioactive material that could be used in a terrorist attack, known as Project Cyclamen, has been mounted by the Home Office.

Train Services (Cardiff to Portsmouth)

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what factors underlay the decision to reduce the hourly service from Cardiff to Portsmouth by 70 seats per train.

Derek Twigg: Currently some trains that operate on this route are three-car some are two-car. The third vehicles were added to some trains to compensate for peak crowding around Bristol and between Bristol and Cardiff. Improvements in the December 2006 service specification around Bristol, by terminating fewer trains at Bristol Temple Meads station and increasing the number of calls at Filton Abbey Wood, should help to relieve this overcrowding.
	The capacity of trains on a given route is for a train operator to specify. First Greater Western (FGW), who will operate the service from December 2006, recently consulted on this timetable. The results of the consultation are being analysed and FGW, in conjunction with DfT, will decide whether to amend the timetable or train capacity in response to the consultation.

Train Services (Cardiff to Portsmouth)

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons it is proposed to reduce the Cardiff to Portsmouth line service over the section between Westbury and Southampton by five trains a day in each direction from December 2006.

Derek Twigg: The primary service between Westbury and Southampton will remain hourly. Added into this pattern are a number of additional services; it is these which are proposed to be reduced on value for money grounds. First Greater Western (FGW), who will operate the service from December 2006, recently consulted on this timetable. The results of the consultation are being analysed and FGW, in conjunction with DfT, will decide whether to amend the timetable in response to the consultation.
	The level of service provided between Southampton and Salisbury is also being reviewed as part of the new South Western Franchise. An option to offer a second train an hour between Southampton and Salisbury (via Chandlers Ford) is being considered.

Vehicle Imports

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much revenue has been collected in tariffs on (a) imports of (i) cars and (ii) lorries and (b) in total vehicle imports in each year since 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	The information is not available to this level of detail.

Vehicle Registrations

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce legislation to prevent the use of mail collection only postal addresses for the registration of motor vehicles; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: There are no current plans to introduce legislation to prevent the use of mail collection postal addresses. To do so would have a detrimental effect on businesses such as fleet companies who register large volumes of vehicles with a PO Box address or other mail collection postal address.

Vehicle Registrations

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many motor vehicles are registered at 25 Duke Street, Chelmsford; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The number of vehicles registered at a specific address constitutes personal data and as such cannot be released to anyone not legally entitled to receive it.

Wildlife and Countryside Act

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 on the operation of railway services; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 21 March 2006
	This is an operational matter for Network Rail, as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 applies directly to the infrastructure provider, principally through its maintenance, enhancement and renewal activities and in its capacity as a major landowner. In general, the requirements of the Act do not impact upon the operation of trains.
	Network Rail comply with the requirements in terms of protection to species and areas, for example by gaining consent as required, and work with English Nature to assist them meet their target of reinstating Sites of Special Scientific Interest to favourable status.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Case Timings

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Solicitor-General what guidance he has issued to the Crown Prosecution Service on the length of time that should elapse before a case is brought against a suspect.

Mike O'Brien: There is no specific CPS guidance on the length of time that should elapse before a case is brought against a suspect. However, the Crown Prosecution Service works closely with the police and other agencies to ensure that cases are handled expediently and are brought before a court when all the available evidence is available to support the case.
	The Crown Prosecution Service has specific guidelines on timeliness which apply to persistent young offenders whereby cases should be finalised at court within 71 days of arrest.
	Additionally, cases which involve the custody of defendants are subject to time limits as specified in Section 22 of the Prosecution of Offenders Act 1985. This is to ensure that cases are progressed expeditiously through the court process and to avoid the need for defendants to remain in custody for excessive periods of time.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Arms Exports (Iraq)

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether any of the 20,878 semiautomatic pistols exported to Iraq referred to in the Second Quarterly Report on Strategic Export Controls 2004 had previously been subject to the refusal of an export licence application by an EU member state as defined by the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 20 March 2006
	The Council of the European Union 'User's Guide to the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports' stipulates that information on the central Denial Notification database is classified 'Restricted' and will be treated as such by all Member States. I am therefore able neither to confirm nor deny whether an EU Member State had previously refused the export to Iraq of any of the 20,878 semi-automatic pistols referred to in the Second Quarterly Report on Strategic Export Controls 2004.
	I would however make clear that the UK takes its commitments to the EU Code of Conduct very seriously.

Business Links

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps have been taken to ensure that agencies allocated contracts by regional development agencies for Business Links brokerage models conform to the terms of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 in respect of their (a) recruitment, (b) subcontracting, (c) board membership and (d) customer service.

Alun Michael: Responsibility for such contracts now lie with the Regional Development Agency in each region and I have asked the chief executive each Agency to provide me with information about the steps taken to ensure that Business Links brokerage models conform to the terms of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 in terms of recruitment, subcontracting, board membership and customer service. Once the information is to hand I shall write to my hon. Friend and place a copy of the letter in the Libraries of the House.

Carbon Credits

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government plans to take to promote the inclusion of carbon capture and storage technology as a means of yielding carbon credits.

Malcolm Wicks: The UK took the initiative in the EU last year with the aim of having Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) qualify for carbon credits under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. We established an ad hoc working group made up of interested EU member countries plus Norway to oversee the production of a report investigating the monitoring and verification guidelines necessary for CCS to qualify for Carbon Credits. This report can be found on the DTI website at:
	http://www.dti.govAik/energy/coal/cfft/cct/pub/pdfs/r277.pdf.
	This report was presented to the European Commission last Autumn and they have now established a Working Group under the European Climate Change Programme, which includes UK representation, to develop policy recommendations for CCS in the EU ETS. In addition, the UK is working with other countries in the UNFCCC to ensure that CCS projects in developing countries are eligible for carbon credits under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism.

Clear Skies Programme

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry for what reasons grants under the Clear Skies programme are not available between 5 March and the closure of the scheme on 31 March; and what steps the Government has taken to inform applicants that grants would no longer be made available from 5 March.

Malcolm Wicks: Under Clear Skies grants finished before the 31 March because all available funds had been allocated to the Programme.
	Notice was given on the Programme website about the proposed closure date and time frames for submitting applications.
	The new Low Carbon Buildings Programme will supersede Clear Skies in April this year, which will continue to make grants available for the installation of renewable technologies.

Coal-fired Power Stations

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the UK's energy supply was derived from coal-fired power stations in each of the last 10 years.

Malcolm Wicks: The proportion of electricity supplied from coal in the United Kingdom in each of the last ten years is shown in the table. The table also shows the proportion of primary inland consumption of energy that was used in coal fired power stations.
	
		Percentage
		
			  Proportion of UK electricity supplied by coal Proportion of UK inland consumption of energy used in coal-fired power stations 
		
		
			 1996 40 15 
			 1997 33 12 
			 1998 33 13 
			 1999 28 11 
			 2000 31 12 
			 2001 33 13 
			 2002 32 13 
			 2003 35 14 
			 2004 33 13 
			 2005(7) 34 14 
		
	
	(7) The 2005 data are provisional
	Source:
	Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics 2005

Departmental Meetings

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on what dates meetings have taken place between his Department and representatives of Asda, including Asda's parent company Wal-Mart, in the last 12 months; and if he will list the participants.

Alun Michael: Because of the very wide range of goods and outlets involved, the retail sector is affected by more regulations than any other sector. Consequently major retailers will have regular contact with many departments and may also be involved in working and consultative groups. To list every meeting would involve disproportionate cost, so the following information relates to key meetings only. Data privacy legislation make it inappropriate listing participants.
	Between 16 March 2005 and 16 March 2006 meetings between DTI and Asda/Wal-Mart took place on:
	25 March 2005
	5 April 2005
	29 April 2005
	22 June 2005
	22 July 2005
	4 August 2005
	2 September 2005
	16 February 2006

European Institute for Technology

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received from businesses and industry on the European Commission's proposal to establish a European Institute for Technology.

Barry Gardiner: My right hon. Friend has received representations from the Confederation of British Industry. These support the Commission's objectives of improving links between universities and businesses to exploit research better, but they question whether the Commission has proposed the most effective mechanism to achieve these objectives.

European Structural Funds

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what changes are planned to the (a) distribution and (b) amount of European Structural Funds in the UK.

Alun Michael: The amounts of EU Structural Funds to be received by the UK over the next Financial Perspective (2007–2013) were set out in my written statement to Parliament of 20 December 2005 on the agreement achieved in the European Council on 15 to 16 December. The agreement (and that statement) also included specific allocations for regions covered by the Convergence Objective and by phasing-in provisions under the Competitiveness and Employment Objective, namely Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, West Wales and the Valleys, Merseyside and South Yorkshire, and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. We are currently consulting on a draft National Strategic Reference Framework, which will establish key priorities for Structural Fund spending in the UK. As part of the consultation, we are also inviting comments on how to allocate the remaining funds available under the Competitiveness Objective.

Freshwater Biological Association  Library/Kritsch Collection

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with (a) the National Environment Research Council and (b) the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology on their decision to withdraw funding support for the Freshwater Biological Association Library and the Kritsch Collection.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 21 March 2006
	The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) is wholly owned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has had no discussions with either (a) NERC or (b) CEH on the Freshwater Biological Association Library and the Kritsch Collection. NERC is responsible for determining the details of how funding is allocated to specific activities.

Iraq

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the British companies that the Government have helped win contracts in Iraq since the current conflict began.

Ian Pearson: The Department does not hold a comprehensive list of all the companies that it has helped secure business in Iraq. However, I will send to the hon. Member a list of UK companies that are known to us to be operating in Iraq and which have given us permission to pass on their names. Many others have asked us not to pass on this information because of commercial confidentiality or security concerns for their staff and operations in Iraq. A number of the companies on the list will have received assistance from UK Trade and Investment.
	This information will also be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Labour Statistics

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which 10 areas of employment he estimates to be most short of workers.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The National Employer Skills Survey (NESS), produced by the Learning and Skills Council, is based on interviews with 27,000 employers and is the most reliable source on worker shortages.
	Figures on total job vacancies by occupation can give a misleading picture—for employers within some occupations can fill their vacancies relatively easily. It is the vacancies which employers find hard to fill which reflect a shortage of workers. NESS figures on 'hard to fill vacancies' therefore give the clearest indication of occupations facing a shortage of workers.
	The most recent data are for 2004 and show that the occupations with the most 'hard to fill' job vacancies as a percentage of employment were as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Personal Service 2.5 
			 Associate Professionals 1.8 
			 Skilled Trades 1.8 
			 Transport and machine operatives 1.5 
			 Elementary Occupations 1.3 
			 Sales and Customer Service 0.8 
			 Professionals 0.5 
			 Administrative and Secretarial 0.5 
			 Managers and senior officials 0.3

Low Carbon Buildings Programme

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when (a) household grant allocations and (b) large scale community and commercial grant allocations under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme will begin.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 20 March 2006
	Grants for householders and small-scale community projects will be available when the programme is launched in April. Grants for larger projects will be available once EU State Aids approval has been granted. The Commission has been provided with additional information at their request and we are awaiting their decision.

Low Carbon Buildings Programme

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps have been taken to overcome the absence of a lead-in time prior to the launch of the Low Carbons Building Programme on 1 April; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the amount of lead-in time available on the amount of business generated for registered installers of the technology.

Malcolm Wicks: The new programme will be launched in April, industry and key stakeholders have been aware of this for over 6 months.
	There should be a limited effect on business for installers as the PV Programme is still accepting grants. Given the time it takes to process applications it is likely the new programme will be up and running by the time grant offers have been given and therefore there will be no gap in business for installers. It should also be noted that there are still a number of outstanding grant installations yet to be completed.

Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak Experiment

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what support his Department is providing for the UK Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak experiment at Culham; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) took over responsibility for the funding of the UK fusion programme in April 2003.
	The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) receives funding for the UK's own national research programme which includes the development of the UK's own fusion device, the Mega-Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST), and for the UK's contributions to the operation of the Joint European Torus (JET).
	UKAEA spends about £7 million per annum on the development of MAST which includes a 20 per cent. contribution from the EURATOM Framework Programme.

Natural Environment Research Council

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Natural Environment Research Council since 13 March 2006.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 20 March 2006
	The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) announced on 13 March 2006 that it will proceed with its proposals for the restructuring of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), with various modifications reflecting issues raised by stakeholders' input to the recent public consultation. CEH is a wholly owned research centre of NERC, and decisions on its future are the responsibility of NERC. The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has had no discussions with NERC since 13 March on this matter.

Natural Environment Research Council

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what powers he has to examine decisions taken by the Natural Environment Research Council.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 20 March 2006
	The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is one of eight UK Research Councils, established under Royal Charter. It is an executive Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry. The Science and Technology Act 1965 gives a power to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to provide sums of money to NERC and to give directions in respect of such sums, but in accordance with longstanding Haldane principles, Research Council decisions on the funding of specific scientific research are taken independently of Ministers.

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the capacity of the building industry to meet the demands of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's programme of work between the present time and 2012, with particular reference to large-scale public sector building programmes competing for manpower.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 20 March 2006
	This is a matter for the Nuclear decommissioning Authority (NDA). Prior to advent of the NDA in April 2005, the nuclear industry's assessment of its construction skill requirement was made on a site by site basis. The NDA will identify the long term skills requirements for its overall clean up programme in the context of it Strategic plan. In addition, the NDA will tap into the sector skills agreements currently being developed by Cogent (the skills council for the nuclear industry) who for their part have already started a dialogue with organisations such as the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to ensure that provision is made for the UK as a whole.

Nuclear Power

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he expects the review of the operating hours of six nuclear power stations to be completed; and when he expects to receive applications to agree extensions.

Malcolm Wicks: It would be for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to make any proposals for a lifetime extension of any of their four remaining operational Magnox stations. We have received no such proposals and are unlikely to do so given that the Magnox technology is really very old and there is little, if any, scope for such extensions.
	We understand British Energy has taken no decisions about extending the lives of any of its nuclear power stations beyond those dates already announced. Any decisions to seek extensions would be a matter for the company who would need to evaluate the safety, technical and economic cases, within the overall regulatory framework.

Office of Fair Trading

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what total efficiency savings were achieved by the Office of Fair Trading in 2004–05; and whether these count towards current efficiency savings targets.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Office of Fair Trading did not quantify efficiency savings during 2004–05. Efficiency savings achieved by the Office of Fair Trading in 2004–05 do not count towards current efficiency savings targets.

Office of Fair Trading

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much of the efficiency savings targets for the Office of Fair Trading are to be cashable; and under what budget headings these cashable efficiency savings will be re-spent.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Office of Fair Trading has set for itself the following cashable efficiency saving targets:
	
		
			  Efficiency (percentage Value (£ million) 
		
		
			 2005–06 3 1.5 
			 2006–07 5 2.5 
			 2007–08 5 2.5 
		
	
	These cashable efficiency savings will be redirected to meet the increased targets and reform of the consumer credit system.

Office of Fair Trading

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the target level of employment, expressed as full-time equivalents, is in the Office of Fair Trading by April 2008.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Following the Chancellor's pre-budget statement on the enhanced future role of the OFT, the OFT are unable to provide a prediction, of a figure for the target level of employment by April 2008, at this time. The OFT expect to be able to do so before the end of December 2006.

Post Offices

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), of 14 February 2006, Official Report, column 1866W, on post offices, if he will list the factors that the Department expects to affect the future size of the post office network.

Barry Gardiner: Factors affecting the future size of the post office network will include: customer usage levels; the success and uptake of new products; the ability to attract new sub-postmasters to take on branches that come onto the market; the potential sustainability of the new ways of service delivery being piloted by Post Office Limited; the level of any support which may be available after 2008; and the outcome of discussions between the Department for Work and Pensions and Post Office Limited on what accounts, other than the Post Office card account, will be available after 2010.

Radioactive Waste

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what requests he has made to (a) the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, (b) the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management and (c) Nirex for assessments of the quantity, type and capacity of facilities to handle additional radioactive waste created by new nuclear reactors built and operated in the United Kingdom.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 20 March 2006
	No requests have been made regarding specific numbers of facilities. We currently await CoRWM's recommendations.
	As part of its work towards making recommendations to Government on the best option or combination of options for long-term management of higher activity wastes, CoRWM has already considered some new build scenarios, drawing technical information from industry sources. The results of this work were published in the CoRWM Inventory in July 2005. CoRWM have confirmed that waste from a new build programme could be technically accommodated within any of the options they have short-listed for long-term waste management.

Renewable Energy

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many households installed solar panels in each year between 2000 and 2005.

Malcolm Wicks: Under the Photovoltaics Demonstration Programme, which has been running since 2002, the following numbers of households have stalled solar panels.
	
		
			  Financial year  Number Total amount of grants offered to householders (£) 
		
		
			 2002–03 154 927,650 
			 2003–04 214 1,253,824 
			 2004–05 416 2,524,527 
			 2005–06 to date 392 2,351,723

Solar Photovoltaic Technologies

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the amount of grant funding to be allocated to solar photovoltaic technologies in 2006–07 from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 21 March 2006
	The new programme is technology neutral, there is no specific allocation to any technology. We will be looking to ensure all technologies are supported, but this will also depend on projects that come forward.

Solar Photovoltaic Technologies

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total amount of grant funding spent under the Solar photovoltaic Major Demonstration Programme was in 2004–05.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 21 March 2006
	£5.99 million has been spent on both Stream 1 and 2 grants to date for the financial year 2004–05.

Unsolicited Telephone Sales Calls

Ken Purchase: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what further plans he has to regulate unsolicited telephone sales calls.

Alun Michael: Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, consumers are offered protection from unsolicited telephone sales calls through the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) scheme. This has proved to be an effective deterrent with 11.2 million registrations to date. No one is allowed to make an unsolicited telephone sales call to a subscriber who has either previously notified the caller that they do not wish to receive such calls or has been registered with the TPS scheme for at least 28 days.

Wave Power

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many wave power research and development projects have been financially supported by his Department over the last three years; and at what total cost.

Malcolm Wicks: Over the last three financial years a total of 13 wave energy projects have been supported under the DTI's Technology Programme. The expenditure in each year is given as follows.
	
		
			 Year in which invoices were paid Spend (£) 
		
		
			 2003–04 2,104,141 
			 2004–05 334,651 
			 2005–06 281,347 
			 Total 2,720,139

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Annual Efficiency Gains

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps her Department has taken to realise total annual efficiency gains of at least £4.3 billion by 2007–08.

Bill Rammell: The Department is reporting steps taken to achieve our efficiency target of £4.3 billion through existing Departmental reporting processes. We reported most recently in the Department's 2005 Autumn Performance Report and will report further progress and steps taken in the 2006 Departmental Report that we expect to publish in May.

Business Education

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps her Department is taking to improve and expand business education in universities in the North East.

Bill Rammell: The Department works mainly through the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to deliver business education provision via higher education institutions in England. The following are just some examples of the steps my Department is taking to support business education in universities in the North East.
	Preparing students for business through business education.
	Professional and other business services1 was identified as a priority at level 4 in the North East skills action plan, so HEFCE were keen to ensure this subject area received additional student numbers (ASNs) from the managed growth allocation last year. They were identified as one of HEFCE's priorities in the selection process, and in the end they allocated 388 full-time equivalents (25 percent.of the total North East allocation) to business related subjects.
	Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the North East are committed to business and management, not least because leadership has been identified as a key contributor to the economic future of the region. For example, the University of Northumbria is in the midst of expanding its business school in the centre of Newcastle. The school (together with law and design) will be moved into new high profile, high spec premises as part of a strategy to ensure these three key schools gain synergies from closer working through co-location. There are other campus developments across the region that may not directly improve the infrastructure of business studies, but will improve the facilities for business to interact with the university.
	More generally, HEFCE have encouraged institutions to think about getting students ready for business through their HEROBC and HEIF funding. Over the years these funding streams have provided placements, developed employability skills, encouraged graduate entrepreneurship, facilitated spin offs, established incubator space and created real links between business and students. Between August 2006 and July 2008, over £9.4 million will go into the North East in HEIF III funding through the core institutional allocations.
	Reaching out to business through business education
	This is slightly different, as business is the end user. HEFCE have targeted investment in this area through HEROBC and HEIF. The HE business and community interaction survey (http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/hefce/2005/05_46/) provides a good breakdown of where the funding has been used in the past, for example to increase the amount of continuing professional development (CPD) and short courses run businesses.
	The North East Higher Skills Network (NEHSN)—the region-wide Lifelong Learning Network— will also impact on this in the future as it will aim to increase the skills levels of those at work in the North East in three key employment sectors (manufacturing, health and business). The region successfully bid for £5.5 million last year to establish the NEHSN, and we hope to see activity take over the next year. The network will encourage progression for employees from vocational backgrounds and provide information, advice and guidance on how their careers could be enhanced through further study. It will also create links with employers and Sectors Skills Councils (SSCs) to ensure qualifications are fit for purpose and meet the needs of business. We expect the network to look at ways of accrediting work based learning and also interact with Train to Gain, Business Links and other regional business service providers.
	Through previous HEIF rounds, a number of specific employer related initiatives have been established. There is a region wide New Technology Institute that is now funded by the RDA, but which came from a HEFCE funded imitative from 2001. Knowledge House has received several years of funding through HEIF competitions and is a gateway for business as well as research consultancy. More recently two Centres for Knowledge Exchange in the region have been funded.
	Sunderland (Global Automotive Technology Exchange —GATE) was established to identify emerging technologies in the automotive sector and develop exploitation routes for the benefit of UK manufacturing industry, involves transferring existing technology from the UK HEI partners to industry, developing technology with industrial partners and promoting these via the GATE partnership. GATE has been successful in supporting joint R and D projects and encouraging academics to become more proactive in seeking out and servicing the requirements in industry (significant rise in the numbers of academics and students engaging in technology transfer). Teesside—Digital Knowledge Exchange (DKE) has helped to develop advanced services in digital media. It has helped Teesside to create a core team of experienced developers, researchers and business people able to respond rapidly to the needs of digital sector. The team also acts as a focus for further activity drawing on additional help from external research teams, academics, graduates, students and partner bodies.

Chemistry

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people have graduated from university with a chemistry degree in each year since 1996.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 17 March 2006
	The latest available information on graduate numbers is given in the following table. Latest figures published by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) for the years since 2004/05 show that entrants to chemistry courses are increasing: students entering full-time chemistry degree courses in autumn 2005 increased by 12.5 per cent. (compared to an overall rise for all subjects of 8.4 per cent.), and early figures for autumn 2006 entry show that applications for chemistry are up by 5.6 per cent. (compared to an overall fall in applications of 2.8 per cent.).
	
		Graduates(8) in chemistry from UK HE institutions
		
			 Academic year Chemistry 
		
		
			 1995/96 4,145 
			 1996/97 3,755 
			 1997/98 3,395 
			 1998/99 3,625 
			 1999/2000 3,425 
			 2000/01(9) 3,285 
			 2001/02 3,215 
			 2002/03(10) 2,955 
			 2003/04 2,735 
			 2004/05 2,710 
		
	
	(8) Covers all graduates (UK domiciled and overseas).
	(9) Figures from 1994/95 to 1999/2000 exclude qualifications obtained from students studying on dormant modes of study. Figures for 2000/01 onwards include these students.
	(10) Figures for 2001/02 and earlier are based upon the major subject of the qualification. For 2002/03 onwards, figures by subject are apportioned between the subjects studied. This means that the figures for 2002/03 and later are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.
	Note:
	Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.
	Source:
	Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) student record.

Post-Graduate Certificate in Education

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how the inclusion of Post-Graduate Certificate in Education students within the university fees regime will operate; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: From 2006 universities and colleges will be able to charge new students tuition fees which can vary between £0 and £3,000. This will replace the current flat rate fixed fee which is currently set at £1,175. The new higher variable fee applies to all students starting teacher training courses in 2006, including those starting a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) course. Universities charging the maximum fee will be required to offer bursaries to the poorest students. Students are not required to pay the fees up front and like all other new students, PGCE students are able to apply for a loan for the cost of the fees. The loans are repayable once a student has finished their course and is earning £15,000 or more.
	Training bursaries for PGCE students have been increased for 2006/06, with £9,000 available for those training in a priority subject. Eligible low income PGCE students also receive a new maintenance grant of at least £1,200 and up to £2,700, depending upon an income assessment.

School Performance Measurements

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 12 October 2005, Official Report, column 528W, on school performance measurements, if she will make a statement on recent progress of the piloting of the inclusion of a contextualised value-added measure in the achievement and attainment tables.

Jacqui Smith: The secondary school achievement and attainment tables contextual value added (CVA) pilot is currently being evaluated. The pilot tables, showing CVA measures for the 430 schools that volunteered to take part in the pilot, were published on 19 January 2006. An evaluation questionnaire was made available on the Department's website and officials have held a series of evaluation conferences with pilot schools and local authorities. I hope to be in a position to announce the outcome of the pilot and the content of the 2006 tables next month.

Student Debt (Newly Qualified Teachers)

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether her Department maintains a record of the teacher recruitment incentives available to newly qualified teachers in respect of payment of student debt.

Jacqui Smith: The Repayment of Teachers' Loans (RTL) scheme repays the student loans of eligible teachers of priority subjects who have been accepted onto the scheme. Newly qualified teachers were accepted onto the scheme between 2002 and 30 June 2005 when it was closed to new applicants, except those who were unable to obtain employment before 30 June 2005 because they were pregnant or had recently given birth. The scheme is administered by the Student Loans Company (SLC) which holds records of individual cases.

Student Debt/Loans

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 595W, on student debt/loans, if she will break down the total figure given for estimated student loans that will be written off into the categories to which she refers.

Bill Rammell: Of the £2.47 billion (face value) loans issued to students in FY 2004–05, we estimate that over the lifetime of those loans we will write off some £50 million due to the death or permanent disability of borrowers and some £74 million for borrowers whose income does not reach the statutory repayment threshold.

University Lecturers

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of whether there have been delays to the award of qualifications arising from the industrial action taken by university lecturers; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We have made no such assessment. It is a matter for higher education institutions (HEIs), as autonomous bodies, to consider how best they can minimise the adverse effects of the current dispute. HEIs are responsible for determining their own academic and administrative affairs, including deciding what to pay their own staff. Pay and conditions of service are subject to negotiations between employers, their staff and their representative trade union bodies. The Government plays no part in this.
	The Government would encourage both employers and unions to reach a speedy resolution in relation to the current dispute, to ensure minimal further disruption to students.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Medical Staff (Wellingborough)

Peter Bone: To ask the Leader of the House pursuant to his oral answer of 9 March 2006, Official Report, column 959, how many of the 1,500 nurses, 670 doctors and 250 consultants are serving the constituents of the hon. Member for Wellingborough.

Geoff Hoon: The information requested is not collected in that form. My oral answer of 9 March 2006, Official Report, column 959, covered nurses, doctors and consultants serving his constituents" from the Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland strategic health authority.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Carbon Emissions

Edward Vaizey: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what measures are being taken to offset carbon emissions from the House of Commons estate.

Nick Harvey: Rather than offset, the concentration of effort has been on more efficient energy use. Some good progress has been made. For example new more efficient boilers were installed on the Estate in 2004 and currently feasibility work is under way to assess methods to increase the level of renewable energy used across the Estate. The Carbon Trust has been working in partnership with the Parliamentary Estates Directorate (PED) to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, help reduce energy consumption and develop a corporate strategy for the management of carbon dioxide. The PED will shortly be discussing a new partnership with the Carbon Trust to start in April 2006. The Commission expects to review progress in this area and consider how far carbon offset is desirable or possible before the summer recess.

Parliamentary Information and Communication  Technology Service

Ann Widdecombe: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the Parliamentary Information and Communication Technology Service.

Nick Harvey: The Parliamentary ICT service (PICT) came into existence on 1 January 2006, bringing together IT functions that had previously been managed separately. It is therefore too early to make an overall assessment of its performance. The Director of PICT is always ready to discuss areas of particular concern with individual hon. Members.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Airfields

Mark Hunter: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the status of airfields as previously developed land under the revised Planning Policy Statement 3.

Yvette Cooper: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Southport on 20 March 2006, Official Report, column 67W.

Departmental Staff (Disciplinary Actions)

Bob Spink: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many disciplinary actions against civil servants employed in his Department (a) were commenced and (b) resulted in a sanction being applied in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was established following the Machinery of Government changes in May 2002.
	The ODPM's staff handbook sets out formal procedures for dealing with disciplinary actions involving staff. Disciplinary action can result from 'misconduct' which is broken down into three categories:
	Minor misconduct—behaviour that is unacceptable and of sufficient concern that it cannot be dealt with informally, but not serious enough to fall into either of the two other categories;
	Serious misconduct—behaviour which by its very nature damages the relationship between the individual and their employer; and
	Gross misconduct—behaviour which by its very nature so damages the relationship it would normally be incompatible with continued employment.
	Information on the number of disciplinary cases is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Fire and Rescue Service

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what was the average cost of a false alarm attended by the fire and rescue service (FRS) in each FRS area in the last year for which figures are available.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The latest estimate of the average cost of a false alarm attended by the fire and rescue service is £1,970. The cost of false fire alarms is estimated by calculating the proportion of fire service call-outs that are not related to an incident, and assuming that the proportion of total expenditure by the fire and rescue service on call-outs is attributable to false alarms. This is likely to be an overestimate, as less time and resource is generally used during false alarms than in tackling genuine incidents. Calculations produce a national average figure, but the methodology does not allow us to produce estimates for individual FRS areas.

Licensing

Don Foster: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) restaurants, (b) hotels and (c) guest houses will no longer receive rural rate relief as a result of the Licensing Act 2003 (Consequential Amendment) (Non-Domestic Rating) (Public Houses in England) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/591); what the average value of the rate relief was in each category in the latest period for which figures are available; what assessment of the impact of the change on each category of business has been made; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: Local authorities are not required to provide data on the number or breakdown of recipients of rural village shop rate relief, of which relief for public houses is one category. Mandatory and discretional rural village shop rate relief as a whole is estimated to amount to £8.2 million in 2005–05 across all billing authority areas. The Licensing Act 2003 (Consequential Amendment) (Non-Domestic Rating) (Public Houses in England) Order 2006 replaces the definition of public house" in the Non-Domestic Rating (Public Houses and Petrol Filling Stations)(England) Order 2001. The Licensing Act 2003 replaced the type of licence on which the 2001 definition was based with new arrangements that do not exactly correspond to the previous arrangements, but did not make the necessary consequential amendment.

Local Government Finance

John Denham: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will adjust local authority funding to take account of increases in population arising from migrants from EU accession states.

Phil Woolas: The Local Government Finance Settlements for 2006–07 and 2007–08 were laid before the House of Commons on the 31 January 2006 and the settlement for 2006–07 was agreed on the 6 February 2006.
	For formula grant allocations, the ODPM can only use the best data available on a consistent basis for all authorities that are available at the time. For population, these are the 2003-based population projections and mid-2004 population estimates published by the Office for National Statistics.

Local Government Staff

Robert Syms: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what proportion of local government staff are (a) male and (b) female;
	(2)  what percentage of staff in each local government pay band are (a) male and (b) female.

Phil Woolas: The Employers' Organisation's 2005 survey states that local government staff comprises 74 per cent. female and 26 per cent. male staff.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not hold the information requested. This is because the national pay framework includes a series of pay points linked together in a spinal column". Each local authority has local responsibility for dividing this spinal
	column into suitable pay grades.

Office Equipment

Michael Weir: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) personal computers, (b) laptops, (c) servers, (d) printers, (e) scanners, (f) photocopiers and (g) fax machines (i) his Department, (ii) each (A) non-departmental public body, (B) executive agency and (C) other public body for which his Department is responsible in (1) Scotland, (2) Wales, (3) each English region and (4) Northern Ireland owned in (x) 2003–04 and (y) 2004–05.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Ordnance Survey

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether Ordnance Survey has held a contract with Getmapping in the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Ordnance Survey has held contracts with Getmapping in the last five years.

Planning Policy Guidelines

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  or what reasons he has changed planning policy guidelines from PPG to PPS3; what representations he has received on these changes; and what reasons underlay the setting out of the proposed changes in an annex to the consultation document;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the implications for general aviation of the change in planning policy for airfields in PPS3;
	(3)  what provisions will be made in PPGS3 to ensure that airfields will (a) continue to be used for aviation purposes and (b) are not classified as brownfield land for housing development.

Yvette Cooper: The intention to move from existing Planning Policy Guidance Note 3: Housing" (PPG3) to a shorter, clearer planning policy statement for housing was signalled in the planning statement given to the House on 18 July 2005, Official Report, column 44–46WS.
	The Government's planning reform agenda includes work over time to review planning guidance, and to replace it with more outcome-based statement of national planning policy. Draft Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing" (PPS3) aims to ensure that the planning system is used to its maximum effect to ensure that everyone has the benefit of a decent home, which they can afford, within a community which is sustainable and in which they want to live and work. Draft PPS3 was duly published for consultation on 5 December 2005 alongside the Government's response to Kate Barker's review of housing supply.
	The consultation period for responses to draft PPS3 closed on 27 February. Some 2,000 responses have been received to date. Responses to the consultation will be taken into account in finalising PPS3 and a summary of consultation responses will be published on the Office of the Deputy Prime Ministers website alongside final PPS3.
	Annex A of draft PPS3 proposes some clarificatory changes to the definition of previously-developed land currently set out in Annex C of PPG3 and the footnotes to that Annex. I refer the hon. Member to the answers given to the hon. Member for Southport on 20 March 2006, Official Report, column 67W and the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar on 21 March 2006, Official Report, (question 56090) concerning the effect of these proposed changes.

Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much is expected to be saved as a result of meeting the civil service work force reductions targets for his Office set out in the 2004 Spending Review; and whether these savings count towards the agreed efficiency target for his Office set out in the review.

Phil Woolas: Savings from work force reductions will make a major contribution to achieving the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's target of £25 million efficiency savings in administration. As stated in the ODPM (Central) Efficiency Technical Note, published in December 2005, these efficiency gains will be measured by comparing current year administration spend against the 2004–05 baseline.

Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much of the agreed efficiency target for his Office set out in the 2004 Spending Review is to be cashable; and under what budget headings these cashable efficiency savings will be re-spent.

Phil Woolas: The Spending Review 2004 set the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister a target to achieve at least £620 million in annual efficiency gains by 2007–08. At least two thirds of these must be cash-releasing. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's proposed gains by workstream, and the proportion that are cashable are set out in the following table, as stated in our Efficiency Technical Note in December 2005:
	
		£ million
		
			 ODPM (Central) Efficiency proposals, 2007–08 All Cash releasing 
		
		
			 Administration 25 25 
			 Regional Development Agencies 120 120 
			 Social Housing: New Supply 160 160 
			 Social Housing: Registered Social Landlord spend on capital works, management and maintenance, and commodities 195 0 
			 Fire Modernisation 105 105 
			 Firelink 10 10 
			 Homelessness 125 125 
			 Total 740 485 
		
	
	Funds will be reinvested in the programme areas from which they are saved.

Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what is the target level of employment expressed as full-time equivalents in his Department by April 2008, in order to meet his Department's civil service work force reductions target set out in the 2004 Spending Review;
	(2)  what baseline figures he is using for assessing progress on his Department's targets to achieve a total reduction of (a) 400 posts and (b) at least 250 headquarters and Government office civil service posts; what progress has been made towards these targets to date; and what the total efficiency savings achieved to date are for these targets.

Phil Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently using a June 2004 baseline for staff numbers, measured in full-time equivalents, against which our targets and progress are measured. The baseline comprises:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 ODPM (central) 2,431 
			 Government offices for the regions 968 
			 Planning Inspectorate and other Executive agencies 1,054 
			 Non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) 3,773 
			 Total 8,226 
		
	
	We use full-time equivalents (not headcount or posts) for setting targets and monitoring progress in order to avoid creating a bias against part-time employment.
	In 2004–05 ODPM (central) and the Government office for the regions delivered a reduction of 47 full-time equivalents against a target of 250 by the end of 2007–08. The Executive agencies and NDPBs delivered a reduction over that period of 43 full-time equivalents, giving a total reduction of 90 against a target of 400 by the same date. Further reductions will be reported annually as part of our regular progress reports to OGC. During 2005–06 ODPM (central) has agreed voluntary early severance for a further 82 full-time equivalents which will make a significant contribution to achieving the targets.
	ODPM's Efficiency Technical Note sets out how reductions are measured.

Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what baseline figures he is using for assessing progress on his Department's targets to (a) improve social housing procurement methods, (b) realise efficiencies in the registered social landlord sector on capital works, management and maintenance and commodities, (c) deliver efficiency gains in regional development agencies and (d) continue the modernisation of the fire and rescue service; what progress has been made towards these targets to date; and what the total efficiency savings achieved to date are for these targets.

Phil Woolas: The overall target for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minster central efficiency programme is at least £620 million by the end of 2007–08. The programme includes efficiency gains by registered social landlords (RSLs) (but not by local housing authorities). The 2004–05 baselines against which efficiency gains are being measured, savings to date and targets for the relevant heading are as follows:
	
		£ million
		
			  Baseline Savings to date Target 
		
		
			 RSL Capital Works 800 64.4 60 
			 RSL Management and Maintenance 1500 74.6 80 
			 RSL Commodities 300 11.5 55 
			 Regional Development Agencies 1552 28 120 
			 Fire Modernisation 2040 38 105 
		
	
	The savings have not yet been fully validated.
	Efficiency gains from RSL social housing procurement are not measured separately but are included as appropriate under capital works, management and maintenance, and commodities.

Spending Review (Efficiency Targets)

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what interim targets he has set for achieving (a) the agreed efficiency target for his Department and (b) the civil service work force reductions targets for (i) gross reductions in posts, (ii) net reductions in posts and (iii) relocations for his Department, as set out in the 2004 Spending Review; what the baseline figures are against which these interim targets are assessed; on what dates they will take effect; and by what dates these interim targets are intended to be met.

Phil Woolas: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's efficiency target is to achieve at least £620 million savings by March 2008. As stated in our Efficiency Technical Note we have plans to achieve savings of £740 million by 2007–08. However, the 2004 Spending Review did not set interim targets.
	Our target for reduction in civil service posts in ODPM central and the Government offices for the regions is 250 by March 2008. This is currently measured against a June 2004 baseline of 2,431 posts in ODPM central and 968 in Government offices. We do not distinguish between net and gross figures in our reduction target.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has a target to relocate 240 posts out of London headquarters by 2010. There is an interim target to relocate at least 216 posts outside of London and the South East by March 2008.

Sun-bed Tanning

Si�n James: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what provision is made by local authority-owned leisure centres for complaints from users of their sun-bed tanning equipment relating to (a) accidents and (b) adverse incidents involving that equipment.

Phil Woolas: Procedures to handle complaints from users of facilities at local authority-owned leisure centres are matters for local authorities. As regards complaints leading to claims for compensation, the Department for Constitutional Affairs is coordinating a cross Government programme of work to prevent a compensation culture from developing, and to improve the system for valid claims. Part of this work involves promoting appropriate and proportionate risk management; encouraging defendants such as local authorities to resist bad claims; and making the system more timely, proportionate and cost-effective for valid claims. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, along with other central departments, is feeding into this work.

Terrorism

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much was made available to local authorities in (a) Manchester, (b) Birmingham, (c) Leeds, (d) Liverpool, (e) Edinburgh, (f) Glasgow, (g) Cardiff and (h) other major cities and towns in the UK (i) to prevent and (ii) to deal with a terrorist incident in 200506.

Jim Murphy: I have been asked to reply.
	In 200506 the Government more than doubled its contribution to the cost of local authorities' civil protection activities in England and Wales to 40.7 million. This increase significantly enhanced the capacity of local authorities to deal with the effects of a wide range of emergencies, including terrorism.
	The bulk of the 40.7 million was added to formula grant (Revenue Support Grant and national non-domestic rates) which is distributed according to a broadly population-based formula. This is an unhypothecated grant and it is not therefore possible to provide an amount given to each authority for a particular function.
	As a result of the devolution settlement, the National Assembly for Wales is responsible for the payment of funding to local authorities in Wales. 2.263 million was therefore transferred to the National Assembly for Wales for distribution to the Welsh unitary authorities. This is currently being delivered by a hypothecated grant mechanism.
	The level of civil protection funding for Scottish local authorities and the way it is distributed is the responsibility of the Scottish Executive.
	Local authorities also undertake a wide range of mainstream activities which contribute to the prevention of terrorism (eg CCTV installation, community cohesion). Disaggregated figures for these activities in each of the authorities are not available.

Unitary Authorities

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what studies his Department has evaluated on the performance of unitary authorities.

Phil Woolas: None. However the Comprehensive Performance Assessment and Best Value Performance Indicator performance data prepared by the Audit Commission show such information by type of local authority.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Carer's Allowance

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women in Bridgend constituency who were in receipt of carer's allowance in each of the last five years.

Anne McGuire: The administration of carers allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Terry Moran, dated 22 March 2006
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women in Bridgend constituency who were in receipt of carers' allowance in each of the last five years.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	The information requested is in the following table:
	
		Number of carers allowance claimants in the parliamentary constituency of Bridgend, as at August(11) of each year from 2001 to 2005 by gender
		
			 Thousands 
			   Gender of claimant 
			  Total Female Male 
		
		
			 2005 0.8 0.6 0.2 
			 2004 0.8 0.6 0.2 
			 2003 0.7 0.6 0.2 
			 2002 0.7 0.5 0.2 
			 2001 0.7 0.5 0.2 
		
	
	(11) 2001 and 2002 figures are as at September. 2003, 2004 and 2005 figures are as at August.
	Notes:
	1. Only cases in payment are shown (those with underlying entitlement but not actually receiving payment have been excluded).
	2. Parliamentary constituencies have been allocated using the ONS postcode directory.
	Definitions and conventions:
	- Nil or Negligible; . Not applicable; Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and expressed in thousands. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study for totals and 100 percent samples for detail.
	I hope this is helpful

Departmental Information

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to improve the (a) quality of management information and (b) appraisal of effectiveness within his Department.

Anne McGuire: Improvements to the quality, timeliness and coverage of management information are being made on the back of the introduction of new IT systems under the department's modernisation programme and by a corporate management information service that was introduced in 2003. The Department's effectiveness is assessed in the Departmental Report and Autumn Performance Report, through which it publishes its progress against public service agreement targets. In making these assessments, the Department takes account of expert advice on best practice in measurement and data quality. The Autumn Performance Report published on 15 December 2005 contains the most recent update on delivery of these targets; copies are available in the Library.

Disability Living Allowance

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many hours (a) initial training and (b) ongoing training are given to staff who work on disability living allowance fraud cases.

Anne McGuire: The administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Terry Moran, dated 22 March 2006
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many hours (a) initial training and (b) ongoing training are given to staff who work on disability living allowance fraud cases.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Careers Service (DCS).
	The information you require is not available in the format you have requested. This is because Disability Living Allowance fraud work involves thousands of generalised staff as well as staff who specialise in fraud in both DCS and Jobcentre Plus. All staff have individual requirements, which are reviewed on an ongoing basis. am sorry I cannot be more helpful.

Disability Living Allowance

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he was first informed of errors within disability living allowance DLA(A) forms; what steps he has taken to make the public aware of those errors; when he expects to rectify the errors; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The administration of disability living allowance and attendance allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Terry Moran, dated 22 March 2006
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he was first informed of errors within DLA/A (Adult) and DLA/A (Child) forms; what steps he has taken to make the public aware of those errors; when he expects to rectify the errors; and if he will make a statement.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	In December 2005, the DLA claim pack, which was in two parts was revised and the two parts amalgamated to produce a unified claim pack. The guidance notes were also amended to reflect the changes. Subsequent feedback in January 2006 has indicated that the guidance notes are not as clear as they might be with regard to the parts of the claim pack to be completed if a person is claiming under Special Rules provisions.
	The consequence of any potential confusion is that some parts of the claim pack may be completed unnecessarily. The outcome of the claim would be unaffected by this. DCS will revise the guidance notes to take account of the feedback received at the earliest opportunity, which will be at the next print run due in June 2006, and accordingly does not intend to take any additional interim steps to raise public awareness.
	A fuller revision of the DLA claim pack, including guidance notes, is planned for October 2006. As part of that revision the DCS Advisory Forum, on which Macmillan are represented, will be fully consulted.
	In addition the DCS were advised on 2 March 2006 that there was a discrepancy between the clerical version and the electronic version of the DLA child claim pack guidance notes. A correction to the electronic version was effected on 15 March 2006 and the notes are now identical to the clerical claim pack guidance notes.
	I hope this is helpful.

Incapacity Benefit

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of new incapacity benefit claims were referred for medical review in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Anne McGuire: Claims to incapacity benefit are initially accepted on the basis of medical evidence but are all subject to medical review to find out whether the person is still incapable of work. Most cases will require a medical examination, but where a person's condition is severe, incapacity may be accepted on the basis of medical or other evidence without the need for an examination.
	Information on the number of examinations carried out on new incapacity benefit claims is not available as it is not possible to split initial examinations from the total examination figure which includes initial and subsequent examinations.

Incapacity Benefit

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research has been (a) undertaken and (b) commissioned by his Department on the mortality rates of individuals claiming incapacity benefit; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The Department has not undertaken or commissioned any such research.

Incapacity Benefit

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of new incapacity benefit claimants in 2005 aged (a) over 50 years and (b) under 50 years had previously been receiving (i) statutory sick pay and (ii) jobseeker's allowance.

Anne McGuire: The most recent available information is in the following tables.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) commencements transferred from statutory sick pay in the period 1 June 2002 to 31 May 2003
		
			 Aged under 50 Percentage of all IB commencements (under 50) Aged 50 and over Percentage of all IB commencements (50 and over) 
		
		
			 57,100 13 57,900 27 
		
	
	Note:
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, 1 per cent. Sample.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) commencements by age and whether person had previously claimed jobseeker's allowance (JSA) within 90 days of IB commencement; first three quarters of 2005
		
			   Commencements previously claiming JSA Proportion of all IB commencements (of age group) (percentage) 
		
		
			 Under 50 years of age   
			 February 2005 22,400 21 
			 May 2005 27,500 26 
			 August 2005 27,400 30 
			
			 50 years of age and over   
			 February 2005 5,600 12 
			 May 2005 7,000 14 
			 August 2005 5,400 15 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
	2. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. Earlier quarters have been updated to include late notified commencements. For this reason the percentage of all IB commencements may be misleading when compared to earlier quarters.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. Samples.

Incapacity Benefit

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of incapacity benefit claimants reaching the first anniversary of their claim aged (a) over 50 years and (b) under 50 years left the benefit in the next year in each of the last five years.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the following table.
	
		Proportion of incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) terminations where the claim ended between the first and second year; by age at termination, as a proportion of all terminations
		
			 Percentage 
			  Aged 
			 August Up to 50 50 and over 
		
		
			 2001 6.1 3.8 
			 2002 5.8 4.0 
			 2003 6.4 2.9 
			 2004 6.2 3.5 
			 2005 6.3 3.6 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance claims, including IB credits only case).
	2. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. For illustration purposes, total IB only terminations for May 2004 increased by 33 per cent. in the year following their initial release.
	3. Percentages are calculated using the total terminations in that quarter as a denominator.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples.

Incapacity Benefit

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many new claimants for incapacity benefit were aged (a) over 50 years and (b) under 50 years in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2005.

Anne McGuire: The information is in the following table.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) commencements; by age group
		
			   Aged 
			 Period All ages Under 50 50 and over 
		
		
			 1 September 1996 to 31 August 1997 997,400 687,100 310,400 
			 1 September 2004 to 31 August 2005 610,200 425,800 184,400 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. Figures for the latest year do not include some late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. For illustration purposes, total commencements for the quarter ending May 2004 increased by 18 per cent. in the year following their initial release.
	3. New commencements to SDA ceased in April 2001. Some commencements still appear after this date due to the case being re-built.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples.

Incapacity Benefit

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) men and (b) women in receipt of incapacity benefit owing to mental health conditions in the Easington constituency are aged (i) 20 to 29, (ii) 30 to 40, (iii) 41 to 49 and (iv) 50 to 60 years.

Anne McGuire: The available information is in the table.
	
		Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants in the Easington parliamentary constituency with a primary diagnosis in the 'Mental and Behavioural Disorders' category; August 2005.
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Men  
			 All ages 1,800 
			 Under 20  
			 20 to 29 400 
			 30 to 40 400 
			 41 to 49 400 
			 50 to 60 400 
			 61 to 65 100 
			 Over 65  
			   
			 Women  
			 All ages 1,700 
			 Under 20  
			 20 to 29 300 
			 30 to 40 400 
			 41 to 49 400 
			 50 to 60 500 
			 61 to 65  
			 Over 65  
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. '' means nil or negligible.
	3. 'Claimant' figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance claims, including IB credits only cases.
	4. Diagnoses are taken from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD10).
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 100 per cent. data.

Incapacity Benefit

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed incapacity benefits for (a) mental health reasons and (b) musculo-skeletal disorders in each year from 197980 to 200506; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available in the format requested. Incapacity Benefit was introduced in April 1995; information is not available broken down by diagnoses for predecessor benefits. The available information is in the table.
	
		Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants with a primary diagnosis in the Mental and Behavioural Disorders and Diseases of the Musculoskeletal system and Connective Tissue groups of diagnoses; each August from 1995 to 2005
		
			   As at August:  Mental and Behavioural Disorders Diseases of the Musculoskeletal system and Connective Tissue 
		
		
			 1995 628,800 645,800 
			 1996 688,400 656,200 
			 1997 754,500 657,500 
			 1998 797,300 629,700 
			 1999 840,100 605,900 
			 2000 889,900 594,300 
			 2001 951,600 592,000 
			 2002 998,700 575,500 
			 2003 1,040,400 561,000 
			 2004 1,078,000 542,600 
			 2005 1,089,100 516,600 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures for the years 1995 to 1998 have been produced using 5 per cent. data and have been rated up in accordance with the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance totals.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	3. 'Claimant' figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance claims, including IB credits only cases.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples from 1995 to 1998 and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 100 per cent. data thereafter.

Incapacity Benefit

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of those claimants of incapacity benefit who are primarily affected by a mental health problem for which they are receiving treatment.

Anne McGuire: As at August 2005, there were 1,089,100 incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants in Great Britain whose primary diagnosis was within the 'Mental and Behavioural Disorders' group of diagnoses; this represents 39 per cent. of the case load.
	The Department does not have records of the medical treatment benefit claimants receive.

Migrant Workers

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when his Department expects to report through the Health and Safety Commission on the implications of increasing numbers of migrant workers in the UK.

Anne McGuire: The Health and Safety Commission will consider at its July meeting the findings of research carried out for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the health and safety risks migrant workers face. The Commission will use the findings to inform the development of future HSE work in this area, and expects to make a statement after the July meeting on this. It also expects to publish the research results after the July meeting.

Pension Credit

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was of administering pension credit in 200405.

Stephen Timms: The cost of administering pension credit during the year to March 2005 has been estimated as 237 million. This figure is an approximate assessment only. The Pension Service continues to develop its unit cost information to enable it to provide a more robust and detailed financial analysis of the processing activities for which it is responsible. A modern resource management system is being rolled out across the Department in 2006. Once in place, this new system will support improved costing analysis.

Private Pensions

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what plans he has to ensure that the transfer values of private pensions reflect the actual value of the underlying assets; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will introduce regulations to restrict the scope for deductions applied to private pension assets when they are transferred between providers;
	(3)  how much was paid in penalty and transfer charges levied by private pension providers on their clients in each of the last three years;
	(4)  what research has been undertaken by his Department into the effects of penalty and transfer charges on people's willingness to take out private pensions; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what mechanisms are in place to record the penalty and transfer charges levied by private pension providers on their clients; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: Private pensions in the form of personal pensions and stakeholder pensions are contractual arrangements between individuals and scheme providers. The Financial Services Authority's (FSA) product disclosure rules for personal pensions require that point-of-sale literature includes a description of the charges that can be incurred and a projection illustrating the potential fund values along with the effect of charges at various points in the product's lifecycle. Amongst other things, this is intended to highlight the effects of any transfer penalties in the early years after purchase.
	In 2001 the Government introduced the stakeholder pension to provide good value pensions for people who could not join an occupational pension scheme. One of the features of the stakeholder pension is that where a member wants to transfer out of the stakeholder pension, regulations provide that the scope for charges and deductions is very limited. The FSA's product disclosure rules for stakeholder products reflect these regulatory requirements.
	The Government do not routinely collect information on the charges levied by personal pension schemes and the Government have no plans to regulate to control charges set by such schemes.

Welfare Reform Green Paper

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether current incapacity benefit claimants classified as automatically exempt from the personal capability assessment will be required to participate in the revised personal capability assessment process proposed in the Green Paper A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work;
	(2)  whether the revised personal capability assessment process proposed in the Green Paper A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work will apply to existing incapacity benefit claimants.

Margaret Hodge: Everyone who wants to work, whatever their health condition or disability, should receive the necessary help and support to enable them to work as soon as they are able to do so. The current Personal Capability Assessment process is often viewed simply as a hurdle that must be cleared to receive benefits and, as a consequence, it focuses upon incapacity rather than capability.
	In our Green Paper; A New Deal for Welfare: Empowering People to Work we set out our proposals to transform the current assessment process so that it:
	provides a professional assessment of an individual's eligibility for financial support based on their functional capability;
	identifies those people who are capable of taking part in work-related activity and the support and interventions required to help them get back to work; and
	identifies people who are so limited by their illness or disability that it would be unreasonable to require them to undertake any form of work-related activity in the foreseeable future.
	For the majority of people, the prospects are good, given the right advice and help. However, we recognise that for others with the most severe limits to their functional capabilities, it would be unreasonable to expect that they engage in work-related activity.
	Under the proposals in the Green Paper, this group of people will fall into the new category of people who receive the Support component of the Employment and Support Allowance, and conditionally will not be imposed on them. It will differ from the current 'exempt' group, which it will replace, in that it will not be based on the nature of the specific illness or disability the individual has, but on the severity of the impact of that condition on the individual's ability to function.
	Consideration is still being given to whether existing claimants will participate in the revised Personal Capability Assessment. However all existing eligible claimants will have their benefit level protected.

CABINET OFFICE

Cabinet Office Website

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many visitors the Cabinet Office website received between 1 February and 1 March 2006; and how many updates were made to the website during that period.

Jim Murphy: During this period, the Cabinet Office website had 48,799 unique visitors who visited the site a total of 160,308 times. The website was updated 876 times.

Ministerial Travel

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to purchase an aircraft for the dedicated use of the Prime Minister; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: In December 2004 my right hon. Friend the then Minister for the Cabinet Office announced an independent review of royal family and ministerial air travel to be led by Sir. Peter Gershon. When Sir. Peter submits his findings the Government will give them careful consideration.

Public Services

Peter Bone: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the delivery of reform of public services.

Jim Murphy: The delivery of reform of public services is at the core of most discussions that I have with colleagues in delivery Departments. There are regular discussions on matters related to delivery, both between Ministers attending Cabinet Committee meetings and between Ministers and their officials.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Caravans

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many studies monitoring the contribution of the caravan sector to the Northern Ireland economy have been carried out in the past 20 years.

David Hanson: The Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) has, over the past 20 years, undertaken two annual surveys per year which identify the revenue spent by visitors and domestic holidaymakers including the caravan sector. NITB has not undertaken any additional, dedicated, surveys among the caravan sector providers over this period, and has no plans to do so.
	Estimates of the number of employee jobs in camping sites (including caravan sites) are readily available from the Census of Employment on a biennial basis from September 1995. The latest estimates available relate to September 2003 (123 employee jobs). Information relating to September 2005 will be available in late 2006.

Cross-border Bodies

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost has been of each cross-border body set up under the Belfast Agreement in each year since its formation.

Angela Smith: The total annual expenditure of each of the North/South Implementation Bodies and Tourism Ireland Ltd. is set out in the following table.
	
		Annual expenditure ()
		
			 Body 2001(12) 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005(13) 
		
		
			 Foyle Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission 1,359,000 1,604,000 1,807,000 1,921,000 2,405,000 2,670,000 
			 Waterways Ireland 9,049,217 14,384,425 18,323,736 18,153,737 22,860,034 24,656,903 
			 The Trade and Business Development Body 1,842,000 2,768,000 5,199,000 6,145,000 6,622,523 7,879,962 
			 Special EU Programmes Body 839,419 1,809,101 1,811,475 1,830,432 1,902,785 (15) 
			 The North/South Language Body(14) 8,609,196 11,799,504 14,352,125 14,548,150 14,916,823 (15) 
			 The Food Safety Promotion Board 1,742,000 2,662,000 3,969,000 5,600,000 6,000,078 6,287,291 
			 Tourism Ireland Ltd.(16) n/a 1,188,472 34,354,546 38,428,516 41,572,000 46,181,000 
		
	
	(12) This covers the period 2 December 1999 to 31 December 2000.
	(13) The 2005 figures shown are provisional.
	(14) The figure quoted for the North/South Language Body for 200204 are based on unaudited accounts.
	(15) Not yet available.(16) Tourism Ireland Ltd. was only incorporated on 11 December 2000.

Housing Benefit

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average weekly amount of housing benefit paid to tenants in Northern Ireland was in (a) public and (b) private sector housing in 2005.

David Hanson: The information is shown in the following table for August 2005.
	
		
			  Average weekly amount() 
		
		
			 Public rented sector 51.33 
			 Private rented sector 60.99

Illegal Dumping Unit

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many staff are employed in the Department of Environment's illegal dumping unit.

Angela Smith: Investigation of incidents of illegal dumping is the responsibility of the Enforcement Team within the Waste Management and Contaminated Land Unit in Environment and Heritage Service of the Department of the Environment. There are currently 25 staff within the Enforcement Team, 22 in scientific grades and three administrators.

Illegal Dumping Unit

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many cases of illegal dumping have been referred to the courts for prosecution in each of the last three years.

Angela Smith: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the response given to the hon. Member for East Londonderry on Wednesday 15 March 2006, Official Report, column 2270W.

Police College (Cookstown)

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on his proposals for the capital funding of the planned new police college in Cookstown.

Shaun Woodward: The Government recognise fully the important role that training plays in the delivery of a policing service to the community and fully supports Patten's recommendation for a new police training college.
	The Government are committed to the funding of a new police college and has agreed to provide up to 90 million of capital funding for that purpose. This will allow the main elements of PSNI training to move to the new site at Cookstown.
	The Department will continue to work closely with the Police College Project Board to prepare detailed plans based on the substantial funding commitments we have made, while ensuring that work on construction can begin as soon as possible.

Post Office Card Account

Alasdair McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many and what percentage of those in receipt of child benefit in (a) Belfast and (b) Northern Ireland use a Post Office Card Account to access the benefit.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	According to the latest available figures, approximately 7,460 recipients in Belfast used a Post Office Card Account to access child benefit in November 2005, accounting for around 23 per cent. of the total number of recipients.
	In Northern Ireland, there were approximately 38,730 recipients who used these accounts in November 2005, accounting for around 17 per cent. of the total number of recipients.

Prisons

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average time spent by prisoners on remand in prisons in Northern Ireland was in 2005; and what steps are being taken to reduce that number.

David Hanson: Statistics for 2005 will be validated and published in June. Provisional figures indicate that the average time for periods spent in custody on remand in prisons in Northern Ireland was 59 days.
	Criminal justice agencies through the Delay Action Group, a sub group of the Criminal Justice Board, are engaging in a number of inter-agency initiatives to speed up processing of Crown court cases across the criminal justice system. It is anticipated that this will also have a positive impact on average time spent on remand. Initiatives in place include the PSNI Reducing Delay Strategy, electronic case preparation, reforms within the Forensic Science service and the continuing rollout of the Public Prosecution Service. The Criminal Justice Inspectorate is expected to publish an inspection report relating to delay in the criminal justice system in April.

Ulsterbus Personnel (Assaults)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of Statefor Northern Ireland how many Ulsterbus personnel were assaulted in the course of their duties during 2005.

Shaun Woodward: Translink has advised that 35 Ulsterbus personnel were assaulted while at work in 2005.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Africa (Good Governance)

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of oil exploration and extraction in (a) Mozambique, (b) Kenya, (c) Nigeria and (d) Angola upon (i) poverty reduction, (ii) good governance, transparency and corruption and (iii) human rights.

Ian Pearson: Oil exploration is being conducted in Kenya and Mozambique. However, this work is at an early stage and it is premature to assess the impacts, which will be influenced by the quantity and potential for exploitation of reserves identified through the exploration.
	Oil is the mainstay of Nigeria's economy, providing over 90 per cent. of Nigeria's foreign earnings and 74 per cent. of Government revenues. This underpins the Nigerian Government's work to fight poverty, improve governance and meet the Millenium Development Goals. They have developed a comprehensive economic reform programme to enable them to achieve this which the Government actively supports. The UK also supports Nigeria in its fight against corruption through technical assistance to its Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
	With UK support, Nigeria is providing global leadership for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to promote transparency of payments in the oil sector. More broadly, we maintain a close dialogue with the Nigerian Federal and State authorities on security and development in the Niger Delta, which includes support for and other measures to improve accountability and governance.
	We see a positive prospect for economic growth and prosperity through oil exploration and extraction in Angola. We are committed to ensuring that such growth promotes poverty reduction, good governance, transparency, the fight against corruption, and human rights. Angola is not yet a signatory of EITI, but has taken a number of encouraging initiatives in this area. Most recently, the Angolan Council of Ministers approved the UN and African Union anti-corruption conventions.

Ascension Island

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State forForeign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on licensing commercial flights between St. Helena and Ascension Island if the former were to build an airport.

Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 15 March 2006, Official Report, columns 237778W.

Ascension Island

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on granting licences for commercial ventures on Ascension Island.

Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 15 March 2006, Official Report, columns 237778W.

British Council

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the British Council on plans to relocate jobs from Manchester to London.

Jack Straw: The British Council has 15 offices around the United Kingdom. It regularly reviews the deployment of staff across these offices. The British Council is currently reviewing the use of its estate across the country with a view to making cost savings where possible. The review will report in June 2006. In parallel, the British Council is undertaking a programme designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its UK-based operational teams. Again it expects to make decisions in June on any necessary staff changes. At present no decision has been made to relocate posts from any one centre to another.
	The British Council is operationally independent and any decision on the location and size of its offices is for the British Council's management to make. However, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office remains in close touch with the British Council on this as on other operational matters.

Canada (Seal Hunting)

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Canadian counterparts on commercial seal hunting in Canada.

Ian Pearson: My right. hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not yet discussed the Canadian seal hunt with his Canadian counterpart. However, during an introductory telephone call on 27 February 2006, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry raised the issue with the Canadian Minister of International Trade.

Cyprus

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made an estimate of the number of British tourists visiting (a) the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and (b) Cyprus.

Douglas Alexander: According to Republic of Cyprus estimates, there are 1.5 million visits by British citizens to Cyprus every year. We also understand that there are approximately 100,000 visits by British citizens to northern Cyprus every year.

Embassies/High Commissions (Security)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much was spent on the security of embassies and high commissions in each year since 2000.

Jack Straw: The overall spend by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on security and guarding services is as follows:
	
		
			  Amount () 
		
		
			 200001 13,989,479.56 
			 200102 16,714,417.76 
			 200203 18,747,067.12 
			 200304 34,394,158.70 
			 200405 77,287,392.84 
		
	
	The FCO can only identify how much of this expenditure was spent on the security of embassies and high commissions at a disproportionate cost. Expenditure on security-related machinery and equipment is not included in these totals, as the expenditure is reported along with non-security related items. The large increase in spending post 200203 is primarily due to the cost of keeping the FCO's presence in Iraq but also as a consequence of further measures following the bombing in Istanbul in November 2003.

Emigrants

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of UK citizens who have moved permanently abroad in each of the last 10 years; and in which countries they live.

Kim Howells: We do not hold records of the number of UK citizens who move abroad permanently. However, we can provide an estimate of the number of British nationals living abroad in the last 10 years as shown in the following table:
	
		Estimated size of the British community
		
			  Million 
		
		
			 1996 13.3 
			 1997 13.4 
			 1998 13.3 
			 1999 15.8 
			 2000 15.5 
			 200102 12.9 
			 200203 12.8 
			 200304 13.2 
			 200405 13.1 
		
	
	These figures are taken from the consular annual returns from overseas posts. There is no requirement for UK citizens to register with British missions overseas and therefore these figures are provided by our overseas posts on the basis of the most reliable information they can obtain e.g. from host government official statistics. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office only holds a breakdown of the 200405 figure as follows:
	
		Consular annual return 200405: estimated size of the British national community
		
			 Country (Total: 156) Estimated size of the British community 
		
		
			 Afghanistan 900 
			 Albania 194 
			 Algeria 800 
			 Angola 750 
			 Antigua and Barbuda 2,800 
			 Argentina 5,000 
			 Armenia 60 
			 Australia 2,066,000 
			 Austria 5,447 
			 Azerbaijan 2,800 
			 Bahamas 7,000 
			 Bahrain 7,000 
			 Bangladesh 3,900 
			 Barbados 2,200 
			 Belarus 25 
			 Belgium 55,000 
			 Belize 1,984 
			 Bolivia 270 
			 Bosnia and Herzegovina 400 
			 Botswana 5,500 
			 Brazil 6,192 
			 Brunei 3,000 
			 Bulgaria 800 
			 Burma 130 
			 Cambodia 1,000 
			 Cameroon 300 
			 Canada 2,400,000 
			 Chile 15,397 
			 China (including Hong Kong) 3,752,031 
			 Colombia 3,050 
			 Costa Rica 2,000 
			 Croatia 900 
			 Cuba 160 
			 Cyprus 60,000 
			 Czech Republic 3,000 
			 Denmark 13,000 
			 Djibouti 20 
			 Dominican Republic 600 
			 East Timor 50 
			 Ecuador 800 
			 Egypt 10,989 
			 El Salvador  
			 Eritrea  
			 Estonia 200 
			 Ethiopia 731 
			 Fiji 500 
			 Finland 2,643 
			 France 301,000 
			 Gambia 2,000 
			 Georgia 202 
			 Germany 132,872 
			 Ghana 3,500 
			 Greece 40,000 
			 Grenada 2,500 
			 Guatemala 1,200 
			 Guinea  
			 Guyana 2,000 
			 Haiti  
			 Honduras  
			 Hungary 2,700 
			 Iceland 800 
			 India 31,800 
			 Indonesia 5,000 
			 Iran 2,100 
			 Iraq 2,000 
			 Ireland 103,476 
			 Israel 35,000 
			 Italy 50,500 
			 Ivory Coast (Cote d'lvoire)  
			 Jamaica 4,500 
			 Japan 26,000 
			 Jerusalem 20,000 
			 Jordan 2,000 
			 Kazakhstan 3,500 
			 Kenya 20,000 
			 Korea (North) 11 
			 Korea (South) 3,000 
			 Kuwait 4,500 
			 Laos  
			 Latvia 400 
			 Lebanon 14,774 
			 Lesotho 350 
			 Libya 3,500 
			 Lithuania 150 
			 Luxembourg 4,580 
			 Macedonia 145 
			 Madagascar 300 
			 Malawi 4,500 
			 Malaysia 6,000 
			 Malta 6,000 
			 Mauritius 1,560 
			 Mexico 14,450 
			 Moldova 75 
			 Mongolia 200 
			 Morocco 1,450 
			 Mozambique 900 
			 Namibia 1,750 
			 Nepal 800 
			 Netherlands 70,600 
			 New Zealand 450,000 
			 Nicaragua  
			 Nigeria 5,548 
			 Norway 15,000 
			 Oman 6,500 
			 Pakistan 85,000 
			 Panama 220 
			 Papua New Guinea  
			 Paraguay 1,000 
			 Peru 1,250 
			 Philippines 15,000 
			 Poland 8,400 
			 Portugal 24,204 
			 Qatar 6,000 
			 Romania 4,500 
			 Russia 5,895 
			 Rwanda  
			 Saudi Arabia 19,000 
			 Senegal 200 
			 Serbia and Montenegro 300 
			 Seychelles 1,250 
			 Sierra Leone 1,000 
			 Singapore 17,000 
			 Slovakia 700 
			 Slovenia 400 
			 Solomon Islands 85 
			 South Africa 750,000 
			 Spain 677,000 
			 Sri Lanka 2,500 
			 St. Lucia 1,000 
			 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 700 
			 Sudan 473 
			 Swaziland 1,500 
			 Sweden 14,500 
			 Switzerland 28,700 
			 Syria 1,238 
			 Tajikistan 200 
			 Tanzania 6,870 
			 Thailand 35,700 
			 Tonga 100 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 5,000 
			 Tunisia 800 
			 Turkey 9,550 
			 Turkmenistan 70 
			 Uganda 2,483 
			 Ukraine 650 
			 United Arab Emirates 115,000 
			 Uruguay 900 
			 USA 1,380,200 
			 Uzbekistan 127 
			 Vanuatu 145 
			 Venezuela 2,000 
			 Vietnam 2,150 
			 Yemen 6,000 
			 Zaire 230 
			 Zambia 8,000 
			 Zimbabwe 13,000 
			 Total 13,115,406

Hezbollah

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the role of Hezbollah in terrorist activity in (a) southern Lebanon and (b) the Palestinian Territories.

Kim Howells: We are not aware of any involvement by Hizballah in terrorist activity in southern Lebanon. However, we remain very concerned by Hizballah's support for terrorist activity within the Occupied Territories.

Jericho Prison

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Israel about its attack on the prison in Jericho; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary called the Israel Minister for Foreign Affairs on 14 March to urge restraint. Our ambassador in Tel Aviv also called the Israeli Authorities on two separate occasions on 14 March to ask for assurances that the six detainees would not be harmed. On 15 March, our ambassador spoke to the Israeli Authorities requesting: access to the ex-Jericho prisoners by representatives of the International Committee Red Cross; assurances that the prisoners would have access to lawyers; and that any trial for the prisoners would be fair and transparent.

Libya

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his most recent assessment is of Libya's nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programme; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Libya signed the historic agreement to renounce all of its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programmes in December 2003. We have since seen no indication that Libya has attempted to restart its abandoned programmes.
	Together with the United States, we continue to assist Libya with the destruction and removal of all components of its WMD programmes, and to promote the engagement and redirection of its WMD personnel into civilian fields.

Libya

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of human rights in Libya since 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The Government remain concerned about the human rights situation in Libya.
	We welcome the opening of a dialogue between the Libyan authorities and groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and progress made in the joint programme on prison management between the Libyan Secretariat of Justice and the International Centre for Prison Studies, financed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Global Opportunities Fund. We also welcome the abolition of the Revolutionary Guards Courts, the recent debate in the Basic People's Congresses on the possible abolition or further restriction of the death penalty, and the release of political prisoners this year.
	The Government will continue to work with the Libyan authorities to encourage them to move towards internationally accepted standards on human rights and the rule of law.

Libya

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  whether Libya has complied with all its obligations in respect of Lockerbie; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much compensation Libya has paid to the families of those who died on the Pan-Am flight at Lockerbie; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Libyan co-operation has resulted in the conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, who is currently serving a 27-year sentence in Greenock Prison. Libya has also paid out US $8 million to each of the victim's families. A further US $2 million will be paid to each of the victim's families once the United States removes Libya from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.
	The lawyers representing the families of the victims negotiated the financial settlement. This was thought to provide a much better settlement than Government to Government negotiations.

Libya

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with Libyan authorities about the freedom of Libyan journalists and political prisoners; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: There have been no ministerial discussions. The Government remain concerned about the lack of freedom of expression in Libya, including a free media. We have welcomed the release of 14 political prisoners in January 2006 and hope for further releases. We will continue to monitor and raise these issues with the Libyans.
	The Government also welcome the opening of dialogue between the Libyan authorities and groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Palestinian Authority

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to the Palestinian Authority about the destruction of the British Council building in Gaza.

Kim Howells: I spoke with Manuel Hassassian, Head of the UK Palestinian General Delegation, on 15 March to express my concern at the damage caused to the British Council buildings in Gaza and Ramallah. Our Consul General in Jerusalem also raised his concerns with senior members of the Palestinian Authority. We were grateful for the initial protection offered by Palestinian Security Forces which allowed the building in Gaza to be evacuated. However we regret that stronger measures could not have been deployed to prevent the destruction of facilities designed to support the Palestinian people.

Prism IT System

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what grounds the Department is making a claim against Capgemini for lack of sufficient memory in the Prism IT system; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been working with both Oracle and Capgemini to address issues connected with performance of its Prism system. A number of improvements are now in train, including upgrading the memory of the system. The FCO maintains a close and constructive dialogue with Capgemini about all contractual matters. Given the ongoing nature of discussions it would not be appropriate for me to give further details at this stage.

Rafik Hariri

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of Syrian compliance with the investigation into the murder of Rafik Hariri.

Kim Howells: The second report of the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission's (UNIIIC) on 12 December 2005 highlighted Syrian non-compliance with the UNIIIC. In response to this report, United Nations Security Council resolution 1644 was adopted on 15 December, which underscored Syria's obligation and commitment to co-operate fully and unconditionally with the UNIIIC.
	The UNIIIC's most recent report on 15 March stated that an understanding had been reached between the UNIIIC and the Syrian Government on the operational modalities with regards future co-operation and that this understanding will be tested in the upcoming months.
	We urge Syria to co-operate fully and unconditionally with the requests of the UNIIIC, and look forward to receiving the UNIIIC's next report, due in June 2006.

Slavery

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will advocate to non-signatory countries ratification of the United Nations Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, 1956.

Ian Pearson: The Government is in the process of considering whether to lobby non-signatory countries on the ratification of the 1956 UN Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, as part of its activities to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 2007.

Slavery

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to his counterparts in other countries (a) to ratify international standards which prohibit slavery and (b) to introduce stronger international mechanisms to monitor and report on compliance with these standards.

Ian Pearson: As my hon. Friend will be aware, the Government are committed to marking the 200th anniversary of the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 2007. The Government are currently considering what activities they will pursue to commemorate this event, including those suggested by my hon. Friend.

St. Helena

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent to protect endangered species on St. Helena and the surrounding British islands for each of the last seven years.

Douglas Alexander: Since 2004, St. Helena and her dependencies have received environmental funding from the joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Department for International Development Overseas Territories Environment Programme (OTEP) as follows.
	
		
			   
		
		
			 200506 437,000 
			 200405 207,090 
		
	
	In addition, Ascension Island received 500,000 for a seabird restoration project in 200304 funded through the Environmental Fund for the Overseas Territories, the precursor to OTEP.
	Figures for 1999 to 2002 are not centrally held. To obtain them would incur disproportionate costs.

US (Northern Ireland Immigrants)

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people from Northern Ireland he estimates to be living illegally in the United States.

Ian Pearson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not hold information about the number of people living illegally in the United States.

WPC Yvonne Fletcher

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what progress has been made by the joint UK-Libyan investigation announced on 7 April 2004 into the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with British and Libyan representatives about their investigation of the death of WPC Fletcher; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The investigation of the death of WPC Fletcher remains a high priority for the Government. We remain in constant touch with the Metropolitan Police Service and continue to make representations to the Libyans authorities to move forward with the investigation.
	We are hoping to see movement on the investigation in the near future and will continue to remind the Libyans of the need to allow closure for the family of WPC Fletcher.

WPC Yvonne Fletcher

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visits to Tripoli have been made by the Metropolitan police team investigating the death of WPC Yvonne Fletcher since April 2004; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: The Metropolitan Police Service visited Libya in April 2004 and again in September 2004.
	The investigation remains a high priority for the Government and we wish to see a satisfactory conclusion to the investigation

WPC Yvonne Fletcher

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the budget is of the Metropolitan Police team investigating WPC Yvonne Fletcher's death; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: No specific budget has been agreed for the investigation. Operating costs are funded through anti-terrorist funds and subsequently justified for each part of the investigation.
	The investigation remains a high priority for the Government and we wish to see a satisfactory conclusion to the investigation.

TREASURY

Air Passenger Duty

John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the air passenger duty will be used to fund international development objectives.

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to introduce an air ticket levy to provide funding for international development projects.

Ivan Lewis: The UK is committed to developing innovative financing mechanisms to support accelerated progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, and has announced that it will hypothecate part of its existing air passenger duty to provide a long-term stream of finance to the International Finance Facility (IFF). The size of the UK contribution will be announced when the IFF is launched.
	With the IFF, the equivalent of the 0.7 per cent. ODA-GNI target could be achieved as early as 200809.

Arms Exports Controls

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have been prosecuted for breaches of arms exports controls in each of the last five years.

Dawn Primarolo: Since 1 April 2000 three individuals and one limited company have been prosecuted for breaches of strategic export controlsone in each of the years 200102, 200304, 200405 and 200506. All were convicted.

Arms Exports Controls

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many breaches of the arms exports controls have been reported in each of the last five years; and what assessment he has made of the extent to which this figure accurately reflects the actual number of breaches that took place.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC calculate breaches of the arms export controls as the total number of:
	(a) Export seizures of military and dual-use goods, goods subject to sanctions and arms embargoes, and civilian firearms; and
	(b) Unlicensed exports referred to HMRC by Compliance Officers from the Department of Trade and Industry.
	
		
			 Financial Year HMRC seizures Referrals from the DTI Total number of breaches 
		
		
			 200001 120 30 150 
			 200102 80 27 107 
			 200203 67 21 88 
			 200304 63 3.1 94 
			 200405 37 28 65 
		
	
	HMRC assess that the majority of UK exporters comply with the export control legislation and that most breaches involve goods that would have been granted an export licence had the exporter applied for one.

Cancer

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the (a) incidence and (b) survival rate for (i) ovarian, (ii) lung, (iii) bladder, (iv) breast, (v) bowel, (vi) prostate, (vii) throat, (viii) mouth, (ix) stomach and (x) testicular cancer were in (A) England, (B) the North East and (C) the Tees Valley in the most recent period for which figures are available.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 22 March 2006
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the (a) incidence and (b) survival rate for (i) ovarian, (ii) lung, (iii) bladder, (iv) breast, (v) bowel, (vi) prostate, (vii) throat, (viii) mouth, (ix) stomach and (x) testicular cancer was in (A)England, (B) the North East and (C) the Tees Valley in the most recent period for which figures are available.
	The most recent available figures for cancer incidence are for 2003. Figures requested are given in the following table for England, the North East and the Strategic Health Authority of county Durham and Tees Valley.
	
		Incidence rates (per 100,000 population) of selected cancers registered in England, the North East(17)and County Durham and Tees Valley(18), 2003
		
			   Male Female 
			 Site(19) ICD 1O code England North East County Durham and Tees Valley England North East County Durham and Tees Valley 
		
		
			 Lung C34 71.8 100.4 89.9 48.1 74.7 62.6 
			 Bladder C67 24.1 27.2 25.7 9.4 11.3 10.5 
			 Breast C50 1.2 1.2 1.4 143.5 144.9 134.0 
			 Bowel C18-C21 63.5 79.1 73.2 51.2 53.6 51.4 
			 Throat C13-C14 0.8 1.7 2.0 0.5 0.6 0.0 
			 Mouth C04-C06 2.3 3.7 3.4 1.5 1.8 1.7 
			 Stomach C16 17.6 26.0 23.9 9.8 14.0 13.7 
			 Testis C62 6.1 4.8 4.5
			 Ovary C56-C5722.1 1.0 24.1 
			 Prostate C61 109.8 117.4 113.2
		
	
	(17) Government office for the region
	(18) Strategic Health Authority
	(19) Cancers registered in 2003 are defined by codes in the International Classification of Diseases. Tenth Revision (ICD 10). Therefore, lung cancer is defined by code C34, bladder cancer by code C67, breast cancer by code C50, bowel cancer by codes C18 to C21, throat cancers by CT3 to C14, mouth cancer by codes C04 to C06, stomach cancer by code C16, cancer of the testis by code C62, cancer of the ovary by code C56 to C57 and prostate cancer by code C61
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics
	The latest nationally comparable survival rates for England, Government Office Regions, and Strategic Health Authorities, are one-and five-year relative rates for patients (aged 1599) diagnosed in 199597 and followed up to the end of 2002.
	These are available on the National Statistics website for (i) ovarian, (ii) lung, (iii) bladder, (iv) female breast, (v) colon, (vi) prostate and (ix) stomach cancer. Equivalent figures are not available below national level for the other sites requested:
	http://www/statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vink=11991Pos=4ColRank=1Rank=272
	For England, survival rates are available for all the sites requested (except mouth) for adult patients (aged 1599 years) diagnosed during 19982001 followed up to the end of 2003. These rates are available on the National Statistics (NS) website at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/ssdataset.asp?vink=8982Pos=4ColRank=1Rank=272
	In this publication throat cancer is referred to as cancer of the larynx.

Economic Growth

Greg Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what analysis he has undertaken of the factors behind economic growth over the next two years for (a) the Eurozone and (b) the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: A full analysis of economic prospects is contained in the 2006 Budget report which is being published today.

High Fat Foods

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received on imposing a tax on high fat foods; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Representations are made to Treasury Ministers and officials on a wide range of issues by a variety of organisations and individuals.
	As the Wanless Review 'Securing Good Health for the Whole Population' discusses, there are difficulties of principle and practice with using tax instruments to promote public health. In particular, unlike with smoking where any consumption can have damaging effects, the consumption in moderation of most foodstuffs can be to the benefit rather than the detriment of an individual's health.

Marginal Taxation Rates

Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what statistics the Government collects on effective marginal taxation rates;
	(2)  whether the Government (a) publish and (b) produce graphs showing effective marginal taxation rates against gross earnings.

Dawn Primarolo: Statistics on income tax liabilities by marginal tax rates are available in Table 2.5 'Income tax liabilities by Income Range' which is available on the HM Revenue  Customs internet website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income tax/2 5dec05.xls
	The information in the table is based upon the 200304 Survey of Personal Incomes projected forward to 200506 in line with the December 2005 pre-budget report.
	Information on effective marginal deduction rates is available in Tax Benefit Models' which are available oh the Department for Work and Pensions website at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tbmt.asp
	Information on the number of families facing high marginal deduction rates can be found in Table 4.2 The effect of Government's reforms on high marginal deduction rates on page 89 in the HM Treasury's December 2005 pre-budget report. Copies of the Pre-Budget Report are available in the House of Commons Library or on the HMT website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pre_budget_report/prebud_ pbr05/prebud_pbr05_index.cfm

Marine Insurance

Shahid Malik: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the implementation of the EU Directive on Insurance Mediation on the ability of the freight forwarding sector to provide marine insurance.

Ivan Lewis: HM Treasury is aware of the concerns that have been expressed by the freight forwarding sector, and has met industry representatives to discuss their concerns.
	The FSA will begin a review of the effectiveness of the general insurance regime in April 2006. This will include seeking feedback from firms and consumer research.

Ministerial Conference (Paris)

John Battle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the outcome was of the ministerial conference in Paris of 28 February and 1 March 2006 on innovative sources of finance for development aid; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what plans he has for the disbursement of funds from the proposed International Finance Facility to be funded by an air ticket levy;
	(3)  why the UK is not listed in the communique summary as one of the countries which has agreed to provide financial support for the International Drug Purchase Facility;
	(4)  what steps he plans to take in the next 12 months to develop innovative financing instruments to fund the Millennium Development Goals.

Ivan Lewis: The Chancellor of the Exchequer issued a written ministerial statement on Innovative Financing for Development on 2 March 2006, Official Report, column 29WS, following his attendance at the Paris Ministerial Conference.
	The UK Government recognises that in order to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, additional resources are urgently needed. The UK is, therefore, committed to developing innovative financing mechanisms, in particular the International Finance Facility (IFF) and the pilot IFF for Immunisation (IFFIm).
	In September last year, the IFFIm was launched with contributions from France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and now Norway and Brazil, as well as the UK. By frontloading aid and investing an extra $4 billion in vaccination now, the IFFIm is expected to save a total of 10 million lives, including 5 million children before 2015. France has reiterated its support for this important initiative and will contribute an average of $100 million a year over 20 years. The IFFIm is now so advanced that the first bonds will be issued within a few months, and the IFFIm will begin purchasing vaccines and delivering these to the poorest countries in 2006.
	Given the scale of the challenge for reaching the MDGs by 2015, France and the UK have agreed jointly to establish a working group to consider the implementation of an IFF going to health and education, among other sectors, which will be partly funded by an air ticket levy.
	The UK has also agreed to support the proposal for an International Drug Purchase Facility, which will provide greater access to those in developing countries to much-needed drugs to tackle HIV/AIDS and malaria.

National Insurance Fund

John Gummer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what multiple of the minimum working balance of the National Insurance Fund he considers necessary to retain in support of state pensions and the national health service.

Ivan Lewis: The National Insurance Fund is used to fund contributory benefit expenditure. I refer the right. hon. Gentlemen to paragraph 20 of the Report of the Government Actuary on the drafts of the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2006 and the Social Security (Contributions) (Re-rating and National Insurance Funds Payments) Order 2006.

Primary Care Trusts (Financial Deficits)

John Gummer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the merits of alleviating the financial deficits in primary care trusts from the sums available in the National Insurance Fund above the statutory minimum reserve.

Dawn Primarolo: The National Insurance Fund (NIF) is used to fund contributory benefit expenditure and there are no plans to change this.

Tax Credits

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many households in (a) Bedfordshire and (b) the parliamentary constituency of Mid-Bedfordshire have received overpayments of (i) working tax credits and (ii) child tax credits in each year since the credits were introduced; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many households in (a) the county of Bedfordshire and (b) the UK are receiving child tax credits; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her on 10 October 2005, Official Report, columns 3212W.
	Estimates for 200405 of the numbers of in-work families with tax credits awards, including information on overpayments and underpayments by constituency, based on final family circumstances and incomes for 200405 are due to be published in May 2006.

Taxpayer Statistics

Alex Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many (a) starting rate, (b) basic rate and (c) higher rate taxpayers there were in (i) Scotland and (ii) the UK in the most recent year for which figures are available;
	(2)  how much revenue was raised in (a) the UK and (b) Scotland from (i) starting rate, (ii) basic rate and (iii) higher rate income tax in the most recent year for which figures are available; and if he will estimate the revenue that will be raised in each case in (A) 200607, (B) 200708 and (C) 200809.

Dawn Primarolo: The latest information for Scotland is in the following table.
	
		200304
		
			  Starting rate Saver's rate Basic rate Higher rate 
		
		
			 Number of taxpayers (Scotland) (000) 280 60 1 ,930 210 
			 Amount of income tax liability (Scotland) ( million) 40 40 4,610 3,400 
			 Amount of income tax liability (UK) ( million) 490 630 52,880 57,130 
		
	
	Information on the number of taxpayers by marginal tax rates for the UK is available in Table 2.1 'Number of individual income taxpayers', which is available on the HM Revenue and Customs internet website:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/income_tax/2_1dec05.xls.
	The information is based upon the 200304 Survey of Personal Incomes.
	Projected revenue estimates broken down by Scotland and other UK countries/regions and by tax bands for 200607 will be available in May 2006. Projections of income tax receipts for subsequent years are normally prepared covering the whole of the UK and separate estimates by country and tax band are not available.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Libraries

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the merits of library self-service systems; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to encourage local authorities to install library self-service systems; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: There has been no formal assessment. In the right locations self-service issues can speed user throughput, free-up staff for other public facing duties and, in conjunction with other technology, aid the effective and efficient management of stock.
	However, there are known to be a number of potential issues around the installation of self-service facilities in public libraries. As well as the cost of the equipment line, these encompass such things as the possible need for the re-design of library layouts, including their entrances, and the reluctance of some users to engage with the new equipment.
	These issues will be different in each location, so the parent authorities are best placed to weigh up the cost-effectiveness of installing self-service issue facilities in their libraries.

Libraries

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many self-service library systems there are in England; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: This information is not held centrally.

Libraries

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was collected in public library fines in each London borough in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: The table shows how much was collected in public library fines by local authorities across all London boroughs in each of the last five years. This information is drawn from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) Public Library Statistics Actuals. The CIPFA statistics show totals for individual library authorities. Copies are held in the House of Commons Library.
	
		
			  Overdue charges across all London boroughs () 
		
		
			 200001 3,114,476 
			 200102 3,129,331 
			 200203 2,974,082 
			 200304 2,834,162 
			 200405 2,758,965

Olympic Lottery Distributor

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport who made the final decision to appoint the chair of the Olympic Lottery Distributor.

Tessa Jowell: The appointment of the chair of the Olympic Lottery Distributor was a public appointment. The final decision was taken by me, after consultation with the Mayor of London and the British Olympic Association. This is consistent with the requirements set out in Schedule 5 to the Horserace Betting and Olympic Lottery Act 2004. The appointment was made following an open competition and taking account of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments Code of Practice. The decision was governed by the overriding principle of selection based on merit and by the well-informed choice of individuals whose abilities, experience and qualities matched the need of the public body in question.

Physical Activity

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department has spent on (a) promoting regular physical activity and (b) physical activity projects since 1997.

Richard Caborn: Sport England is the primary distributor of funding for community and grass roots sport in England.
	In the period since 1997 Sport England has distributed 2.4 billion Lottery funds and over 400 million Exchequer funding for promoting physical activity and sport.

Small Firms

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what definition her Department uses of a small firm.

David Lammy: There is no standard definition of a 'small firm'. However, commonly used in DCMS is the notion of 'small and medium sized enterprises' or 'SMEs'. These are often defined as organisations having 250 employees or less. However, this is not set in stone and definitions of small firms or SMEs vary depending on the context.

Theatre Museum

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions have taken place between her Department and the trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum regarding the proposed closure of the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden.

David Lammy: The Theatre Museum review currently underway is considering the options for where, and how best, to display the Theatre Museum's Collection. The final decision is a matter for the Trustees of the VA, who have not raised the issue directly with the Department. The Museum continues to keep the Department updated on the position.

World Heritage Website

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the running costs of the UK world heritage website were in 2005.

David Lammy: It is not possible to give a figure for the running costs of the UK world heritage website in 2005 as the costs of developing and operating this website are contained in the total figure for all the Department's websites. In 2005 this was 47,000 which covered all 17 of the Department's websites.

DEFENCE

Afghan Poppy Farmers

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the potential for violence from Afghan poppy farmers as a consequence of the eradication of their fields.

Adam Ingram: We continuously monitor and assess potential threats to our forces. Afghan-led poppy eradication is an important element of the Government of Afghanistan's strategy for the elimination of narcotics production and trafficking. To reduce the potential for resistance from Afghan farmers affected by eradication, it is essential to target wealthy producers in particular (the greedy not the needy) to offer opportunities to develop alternative rural livelihoods, or to persuade farmers to opt for legal livelihoods where they are already available.

Darfur

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department is willing to commit troops to a UN peace-enforcement mission to Darfur.

Adam Ingram: We fully support the proposed transition from the AU monitoring mission to a UN peacekeeping mission. MOD currently has four personnel contributing to the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS). Furthermore, we have deployed a military officer to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations to assist with strategic planning. However, given our present commitments we are not planning to deploy frontline troops to Darfur. Any further requests for specific assistance will be considered on a case by case basis.

Defence Intelligence Staff

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many persons in the Defence intelligence staff have been found to have taken actions without proper authorisation in each year since 1997;
	(2)  what mechanism his Department has in place to identify actions taken by the Defence intelligence staffwithout approval from (a) Ministers and (b) the chief of Defence intelligence where such approval is required.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 21 March 2006
	All military and civilian personnel of the Defence intelligence staff (DIS) in the Ministry of Defence are required to undertake duties as detailed in their terms of reference. DIS civilian personnel are required to conform to the terms of the 'Civil Service Code' and departmental procedure on conduct and meeting standards of behaviour expected of public servants, in conjunction with departmental guidance on the handling of matters of conscience and the reporting of concerns at work. Military personnel of the DIS are guided in the performance of their duties by Queens Regulations.
	Information is not held in the form requested, but where the DIS are aware of any action being taken without proper authority, disciplinary or other appropriate action is taken.
	Information is not held in the form requested, but where the DIS are aware of any action being taken without proper authority, disciplinary or other appropriate action is taken.

Equipment Suitability

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) Lynx AH Mk7, (b) Lynx AH Mk9 and (c) Gazelle helicopters the armed forces have; and how many are fit for purpose.

Adam Ingram: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Aircraft Type Total fleet Unit operating fleet Fit for purpose 
		
		
			 Lynx Mk 7 86 63 42 
			 Lynx Mk 9 22 14 10 
			 Gazelle 119 63 42 
			 Total 227 140 94 
		
	
	The Total Fleet represents the total number of aircraft held by the armed forces and includes those currently in repair and those designated as redundant/unrepairable. The Unit Operating Fleet (UOF) refers to those aircraft located at front line and training units. Fit for purpose describes an aircraft which is part of the UOF and available, reliable, airworthy and capable of carrying out its planned mission on a given date. The figures used are current as of 9 March 2006.

Harrier Deployment

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when RAF Harrier jets (a) were first deployed to Afghanistan and (b) are due to be withdrawn.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 14 March 2006
	The UK's Harrier GR7 detachment in Afghanistan commenced operations in September 2004. On current plans, they are due to be withdrawn on 30 June 2006.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2006, Official Report, column 1587W, on post traumatic stress disorder, how many ex-service personnel claimed for a war pension where one of the claim conditions to the individual's service was post traumatic stress disorder or a related condition in the 12 month period between 1 October and the following 30 September in (a) 200102, (b) 200203, (c) 200304 and (d) 200405; and if he will make a statement.

Don Touhig: holding answer 27 February 2006
	It is not possible to provide medical condition statistics broken down by such broad categories such as 'post traumatic stress disorder or related conditions'. However it is possible for us to provide data concerning the number of claims received that include specific medical conditions, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
	Between 1 October 2004 and 30 September 2005, 290 ex-service personnel made a War Pensions first claim where the claimed conditions included Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 185 ex-service personnel made a War Pensions further condition claim, where the further conditions included Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
	For the same period 2003 to 2004, there were 280 first claims where conditions included Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There were also 210 further condition claims.
	For the same period 2002 to 2003, there were 335 first claims where conditions included Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There were also 260 further condition claims.
	For the same period 2001 to 2002, there were 380 first claims where conditions included Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There were also 230 further condition claims.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 13 February 2006, Official Report, column 1587W, on post traumatic stress disorder, how many ex-service personnel successfully claimed for a war pension where one of the accepted conditions to the individual's service was post traumatic stress disorder or a related condition for the 12 month period between 1 October and the following 30 September in (a) 200102, (b) 200203 and (c) 200304; and if he will make a statement.

Don Touhig: holding answer 27 February 2006
	It is not possible to provide medical condition statistics broken down by such broad categories such as 'post traumatic stress disorder or related conditions'. However it is possible for us to provide data concerning the number of claims received that include specific medical conditions, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
	Between 1 October 2003 and 30 September 2004, there were 180 successful first claims where conditions included Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There were also 150 successful further condition claims.
	For the same period 200203, there were 225 successful first claims where conditions included Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There were also 175 successful further condition claims.
	For the same period 200102, there were 290 successful first claims where conditions included Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. There were also 160 successful further condition claims.
	Note that a successful claim includes ongoing War Pension awards, gratuities and nil awards.

Royal Navy

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Navy (a) ships have a home port in Scotland and (b) facilities are maintained in Scotland; what the associated running costs associated with each have been in each year since 1998; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The vessels, which are currently base-ported at HMNB Clyde are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Detail Number and class of vessels 
		
		
			 HMS Brocklesbury, HMS Blyth, HMS Grimsby, HMS Pembroke, HMS Penzance, HMS Ramsey, HMS Shoreham 7 Mine Counter Measures Vessels 
			   
			 HMS Sovereign, HMS Sceptre, HMS Superb 3 Swiftsure Submarines 
			   
			 HMS Vanguard, HMS Victorious, HMS Vigilant, HMS Vengeance 4 Vanguard Submarines 
		
	
	The running costs of HMNB Clyde are:
	
		
			  Running costs ( million) 
		
		
			 199798 (20) 
			 199899 (20) 
			 19992000 32 
			 200001 32 
			 200102 28 
			 200203 27 
			 200304 23 
			 200405 28 
		
	
	(20) Data not available
	These figures represent the general site operating costs for HMNB Clyde and include utilities, rates and telecommunications and maintenance costs.
	The Naval Service uses two other bases in Scotland:
	RM Condor
	HMS Gannet
	Costs for RM Condor and HMS Gannet are, however, captured by function, rather than location, and therefore could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Sea Task Force

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contingency plans his Department has for a sea task force; what non-departmental vessels under (a) UK Government, (b) Scottish Executive and (c) Welsh Assembly control are expected to be called into active service under these plans; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Royal Navy maintains a Maritime First Echelon of the Joint Rapid Reaction Force as a contingency force to respond to emerging crises. This comprises forces capable of self-sustaining power-projection operations, based on a Maritime Strike Capability and a Littoral Manoeuvre Capability. This is supported by appropriate enabling forces and auxiliary forces.
	The operational requirement for other non-Ministry of Defence shipping that is under UK Government, Scottish Executive, and Welsh Assembly control is event-driven, and would be tailored accordingly. The MOD charters such additional vessels from the shipping market as and when required.

Surveillance Tools (Northern Ireland)

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the surveillance tools used by the British Army in their remaining watchtowers and lookout posts in Northern Ireland.

Adam Ingram: The Armed Forces' Northern Ireland Normalisation programme is pressing ahead, as recently verified by the Independent Monitoring Commission Demolition of the five remaining towers and observation posts is scheduled to take place by 1 August 2007. However, in the context of continuing operations at those sites, I am withholding information on the surveillance equipment used because its disclosure would be to the detriment of national security, the prevention and detection of crime, defence capability and the safety of individuals.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Employment

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of people employed in the farming industry in (a) West Lancashire constituency and (b) Lancashire.

Jim Knight: The total number of people working on agricultural and horticultural holdings in June 2004 were as follows:
	
		
			  Total employees Total labour force 
		
		
			 (a) West Lancashire constituency 600 1,291 
			 (b) Lancashire 4,533 12,427 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Total employees includes full and part time regular workers, salaried managers and casual workers.
	2. Total labour force included all employees plus farmers, partners, directors and their spouses if working on the holding.
	3. The county of Lancashire comprises of Lancashire CC, Blackburn with Darwen unitary authority and Blackpool unitary authority.
	Source:
	June Agricultural Survey

Avian Influenza

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the evidential basis was for her statements that birds vaccinated against avian influenza continue to spread the virus.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 7 March 2006
	The use of vaccination against outbreaks of avian influenza in recent years has been well documented in many scientific articles and papers. The reporting of this field use of vaccines has been complemented by more controlled laboratory studies. My officials have examined the published material and consulted with experts at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency.
	It has been a frequently recognised feature of the use of vaccine in the field that vaccinated birds can continue to allow spread of the virus, whilst not showing typical clinical signs. This is particularly true if large numbers of birds have been vaccinated.
	It is therefore widely recognised that the most important factors in any Al control programme are continued biosecurity, early detection, separation of poultry from wild birds, the slaughter of diseased birds and dangerous contacts, and movement controls around outbreaks. However, we keep the policy on vaccination under review in the light of scientific developments in vaccines.

Departmental Offices (Guildford)

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to move out of its departmental offices in Epsom Road, Merrow, Guildford; what representations she has received from departmental employees on this issue; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: In the light of the Sir Michael Lyons' recommendations about Government occupations in London and the South East, every Department is required to review its estate. Consideration of the long term occupation of the Epsom Road, Guildford site is therefore part of this wide reaching review.
	We have engaged consultants to prepare a full business case of the property options. This will be followed by consultations with the key stakeholders. The findings will be passed to the Management Board for their consideration and decision.
	We will have a programme of clear communication with those affected and to date I am not aware of any representations from departmental employees on this matter.

Departmental Staff

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many jobs in her Department have been relocated to Wales since 2001.

Jim Knight: Since 2001 Defra has not relocated any posts to Wales. However, Defra has provided financial assistance to relocate 2 members of staff to posts already existing in Wales.

Departmental Telephone Numbers

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public administered by (i) her Department and (ii) agencies which report to her.

Jim Knight: The information is as follows:
	
		Defra helplines
		
			  Telephone contact number 
		
		
			 Defra 08459 3305577 
			 Defra International number +4420 7 238 6951 
			 Defra Textphone 0845 3001998 
			 Moorland (SDA) 0845 6056516 
			 Environmental Impact Assessment 0800 0282140 
			 Agricultural Wages 0845 0000134 
			 Whole Farm Approach 0845 0006358 
			 Countryside Agency Access (Right to Roam) 0845 1003298 
			 WRAP Waste and Resources Action Programme 0808 1002040 
			 NFSS National Fallen Stock Helpline 0845 0548888 
			 European Wildlife Division: 0845 6014523 
			 Pets Travel Scheme Helpline 0870 2411710 
			 BCMS (British Cattle Movement Service) 0845 0501234 
		
	
	
		Agency helplines
		
			  Telephone contact number 
		
		
			 Environment Agency (general inquiries) 0870 8506506 
			 Hazardous Waste registration line 0870 8502858 
			 Agricultural Waste registration line 0845 6033113 
			 Floodline 0845 9881188 
			 Incident Hotline 0800 0807060 
			 Hard of Hearing Minicom 0870 2422549 
			 RPA Customer Service Centre 0845 6037777

Departmental Transport

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the Answers of 8 February 2006, Official Report, columns 12856W, on departmental transport; what further steps the Department is taking to stop IBM contractors parking in residential roads in light of IBM contractors ignoring the site-wide notice.

Jim Knight: Despite the local Council's reluctance to allow Defra/IBM to park in their 'Park and Ride' car parks, so that a shuttle bus could ferry staff to site, it is still Defra/IBM's intention to operate a shuttle bus from the Guildford station. The contract is currently being evaluated by Defra and, subject to a satisfactory outcome, will be signed shortly.
	Patrols of the local streets continue and staff, whether they are Defra or IBM, are asked to move their vehicles if they are identified.
	Defra has joined the SurreyCarShare Scheme and is now waiting for Surrey county council to launch and promote the scheme on site.

English Nature

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure English Nature spends its budget efficiently.

Jim Knight: The Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Financial Memorandum issued by Defra in 2003 specify the terms under which English Nature receives and spends funds provided by Parliament.
	As part of the process for agreeing English Nature's annual Business Plan, English Nature carries out written consultations and holds meetings with officials at Defra to establish English Nature's contribution to delivery of PSA targets, other high-level priorities and targets, corporate level risks and the financial plans. Similar interaction between English Nature and Defra has informed agreement of the English Nature Corporate Plan for 200508.
	As part of the organisational change anticipated with the creation of Natural England, English Nature is working in partnership with the Rural Development Service and the Landscape, Access and Recreation Team of the Countryside Agency. The three Corporate Plans for 200508 have been harmonised to show what each organisation will contribute in this partnership. This provides clear accountability in terms of what English Nature will deliver with the resources it has, while also presenting this in the wider context of organisational change.

Environmental Legislation

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the likely effect of European Court of Justice ruling 2006/C 36/35, OJ 11 February 2006, on planned UK environmental legislation; for what reason the case was contested by the Government; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: We have considered the implications of the ruling with the devolved Administrations, other Government Departments and Gibraltar. DEFRA will, to meet the court judgment, amend the legislation for England and Wales for the Habitats Regulations 1994 and put in place the Offshore Marine Regulations. Equivalent amendments will be made in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.
	The UK considered that most of the deficiencies highlighted by the Commission were already being adequately implemented in the UK through current legislation, general duties and administrative procedures.

Fisheries

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many UK fishing vessels of 12 metres of more in length, operating in ICES areas VII e, f, g, h and j and using bottom set gillnet or entangling net will be required from 1 January 2006 to use acoustic deterrent devices under Regulation (EC) No 812/2004 (art.2);
	(2)  what the total (a) length and (b) effort in kilometres per hours is of bottom set gillnet and entangling net used by UK fishing vessels of 12 metres or more in length operating in ICES areas VII e, f, g, h and j.

Ben Bradshaw: pursuant to the reply, 10 January 2006, Official Report, c. 446W
	My Answer contained the statement, the 14 entanglement netters some 11,200,000;. This was incorrect and should have read the 14 entanglement netters some 1,120,000;. This affects the overall length of nets used in the fishery but the rest of the Answer remains correct and is detailed in full as follows:
	There are approximately 20 UK vessels of 12 metres or more in length regularly prosecuting this fishery. Gill nets are used for catching hake all year round and entanglement nets are used for catching monkfish, turbot and rays from March to September, a number of vessels prosecute more than one fishery, including wreck netting.
	We estimate that the 12 regular hake netters deploy some 240,000 of nets; the 14 regular entanglement netters some 1,120,000; and, the 6 wreck netters some 24,000. This gives a total for the fishery of 1,384,000 of nets.
	The data are not available to calculate the effort in kilometres per hour.

Free-range Poultry

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the animal welfare implications of free-range poultry being moved into shelters in the event of an outbreak of avian influenza.

Ben Bradshaw: DEFRA has issued guidance to poultry-keepers about how to avoid welfare problems associated with housing for a sustained period birds that are not used to being kept indoors. This information is available on the DEFRA website at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/ai/pdf/separating.pdf

Incineration Capacity

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to increase incineration capacity in England.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 13 February 2006
	The Government have no plans to increase incineration capacity to any particular level; local authorities are responsible for deciding the most appropriate waste management facilities for their areas. Incineration with energy recovery is a sustainable option for the treatment of residual, post-recycling waste and preferable to landfill. In our recently published review of our waste strategy we anticipate needing significantly lower waste to energy capacity than was envisaged at the time of the last waste policy review in 2000.

Organic Entry Level Scheme

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers in Lancashire have been registered under the Organic Entry Level Scheme.

Jim Knight: Further to my Answer to UIN [ 53313 ] given to my hon. Friend the Member for West Lancashire (Rosie Cooper) on 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 273W, records, as at 22 March 2006, show that 14 applications have been received by the Rural Development Service (RDS) in Lancashire and that six of these have generated a live agreement.

Pandemic Influenza

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she plans to take to ensure continuity of satisfactory food supplies in the event of an outbreak of pandemic influenza; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: holding answer 16 March 2006
	Defra's Food Chain Emergency Liaison Group (FCELG) meets regularly to discuss emergency planning for dealing with disruptions to food supplies as well as food chain resilience issues. The Group comprises representatives from all key sectors in the food chain, for example, the British Retail Consortium for the food retail sector and the Food and Drink Federation for the food manufacturing sector. In consultation with the Group, Defra has promoted Business Continuity Planning best practice within the food industry and has commissioned ongoing research to establish, amongst other things, the extent to which best practice is currently being observed.
	The Department of Health, which leads on emergency planning for pandemic influenza, published an Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan in March 2005. As sponsor of the food and drink industry, Defra requested information from each key trade body to help identify the implications of the publication for the food industry. This in turn was followed up at meetings of the FCELG aided by presentations by Department of Health experts on pandemic influenza. In the light of this work the FCELG agreed a number of priorities for further action, in particular regarding the resilience of food transportation, which are being taken forward. In the event of an influenza pandemic, Defra would continue to work closely with the food and drink industry to ensure the continuity of food supply.

Pheasant Rearing

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how intensive pheasant rearing is treated in relation to cross-compliance under single farm payments.

Jim Knight: holding answer 8 March 2006
	All Single Payment Scheme claimants are required to comply with cross-compliance in relation to the agricultural land and activities of their holding. If pheasants are being reared for meat production (i.e. reared and slaughtered in a controlled environment) this is an agricultural activity.
	Where pheasants are reared for sport (released into the wild where they may be shot), claimants must still comply with the cross compliance requirements in relation to the agricultural land on which the activity is taking place.

Single Farm Payment

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received on the administration of the single farm payments scheme in Staffordshire.

Jim Knight: The Rural Payments Agency responds to all correspondence relating to the Single Payment Scheme. As the scheme is not administered on a regional basis, it does not hold records on representations specific to Staffordshire.

Single Farm Payment

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many new applicants have registered land for entitlements under the single farm payment.

Jim Knight: holding answer 13 March 2006
	For the 2005 Single Payment Scheme (SPS) year, the Rural Payments Agency received in the order of 48,000 applications from new applicants and businesses.

Single Farm Payment

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much previously unregistered land has been registered for the single farm payment.

Jim Knight: holding answer 13 March 2006
	It is not possible to provide a figure for how much previously unregistered land has been registered for the Single Payment Scheme, as the Rural Payments Agency does not ask the applicant to identify the scheme to be claimed at the time of registration. Just over 360,000 new parcels have been registered since the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme and the Entry Level Schemes.

Single Farm Payment

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many payments of the single farm payment had been made by the end of February.

Jim Knight: holding answer 13 March 2006
	A total of 2,400 payments were processed and released in February, or BACS payments arranged, the last of which were in bank accounts by 2 March.

Soil Guideline Values

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions her Department has held with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister regarding soil guideline values (SGV) and the work of the SGV Taskforce.

Elliot Morley: Officials of both departments are involved in the Soil Guidelines Value Task Force. We are now considering issues for and possible approaches to improved guidance in respect of assessing the risks to human health which can arise from contaminants in soil, drawing on the work of the Task Force, the Environment Agency, Health Protection Agency and other expertise. A number of discussions have taken place with ODPM officials, and will continue as this work progresses.

Varietal Genetic Use Technologies

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's criteria are for assessing the potential socio-economic impact of varietal genetic use restriction technologies.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 14 March 2006
	The UK has a position established at the CBD meeting in 2000 on varietal genetic use restriction technology which involves application of the precautionary principle and a scientific assessment of individual applications. Our position remains unchanged.
	We would assess any application for approval in the EU of a genetically modified organism (GMO) incorporating varietal genetic use restriction technologies according to the criteria set out under European legislation. These criteria include an assessment of the potential environmental impact but not specifically socio-economic impacts although such assessment is included in the Cartagena protocol which the UK has ratified. This also gives individual developing countries the right to decide whether to apply this technology.
	Under article 31 of Directive 2001/18/EC the Commission is bound to provide every three years a report which includes, among other things, an assessment of the socioeconomic implications of deliberate releases and placing on the market of GMOs.
	Currently no approval exists for any GMO incorporating such technologies in the EU, nor does any application for the approval of such a GMO exist.

Waste Strategy

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what performance by her Department has been against each of the targets in the Waste Strategy 2000.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 17 March 2006
	Good progress has been made since this Government's strategy on waste, was published in May 2000. Latest figures for 200405 show that recycling and composting rates for household waste have doubled to 22.9 per cent., putting local authorities on course to meet the 2005 national recycling and composting target of 25 per cent. In 200304, 28 per cent. of municipal waste had some sort of value recovered from it. Despite expected further increases in recycling the 2005 target of recovering value from 40 per cent. of municipal waste seems unlikely to be met.
	The amount of most kind of wastes going to landfill has decreaseddown from 82 per cent. to 72 per cent. for municipal waste (199889 and 200304) and from 50 per cent. to 44 per cent. for industrial and commercial waste (199889 and 200203), putting us on course to meet our 2005 target of reducing the amount of commercial and industrial waste landfilled to 85 per cent. of that landfilled in 1998. More detailed information on performance against targets can be found in the annex to the consultation document on the review of England's Waste Strategy available on: http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/wastestratreview/index.htm

HEALTH

Ambulance Staff (Assaults)

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps her Department is taking to reduce physical assaults on ambulance personnel.

Rosie Winterton: In November 2003 a comprehensive range of measures were introduced by the NHS Security Management Service (NHS SMS), to proactively and reactively tackle the problem of violence against national health service staff, including those that work in the ambulance services.
	These initiatives include the introduction of local security management specialists (LSMS) to provide all NHS health bodies, including ambulance service trusts, with professional skills and expertise locally to tackle security-related problems, including violence against NHS staff. A specific training syllabus for the prevention and management of violence is being developed for ambulance personnel and is to be launched in 2006. The NHS SMS, working in partnership with the Home Office, is evaluating how the use of technology and other interventions can be used to better protect ambulance staff. The project is due to report later in 2006.

Breast Cancer

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects all cancer networks to have fully implemented HER2 testing for women with breast cancer.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 20 March 2006
	Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director, is working with cancer networks to ensure HER2 testing arrangements are put in place as soon as possible. He will be reporting to my right hon. Friend shortly on progress and a summary of the position will be made available in due course.

Breast Cancer

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the capacity of cancer networks to offer HER2 testing to women diagnosed with breast cancer and who could benefit from the drug Herceptin; and whether she plans to ensure all cancer networks have access to at least one such testing facility.

Rosie Winterton: Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director, is working with cancer networks to ensure that testing arrangements are put in place to enable all women who require it to be tested for HER2 status. This work is ongoing and a summary of the position will be made available in due course.

Child Obesity

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what meetings she has had with the Secretary of State for (a) Education and Skills and (b) Culture, Media and Sport since 1 January to discuss child obesity;
	(2)  what mechanisms are in place to co-ordinate action on child obesity between her Department and the Departments of Culture, Media and Sport and Education and Skills.

Caroline Flint: Since 1 January 2006, no meetings have taken place between the Secretaries of State for Health, Education and Skills and Culture, Media and Sport. However, regular meetings have been held between senior Departmental officials to discuss issues related to child obesity.
	Regarding mechanisms to co-ordinate action, an obesity programme board was set up in July 2005, to oversee and performance manage the delivery of the obesity public service agreement target as well as to facilitate and encourage co-ordinated cross-government action. The board meets regularly, consists of senior representatives from the three target-holding Departments as well as other Government departments with an interest and reports to the health improvement board and to the primary board in the Department for Education and Skills. The cross-government Every Child Matters: Change for Children Group is also kept informed. In recognition of the need for cross-government action, other joint working between Departments includes work on the healthy schools programme, on restricting promotion of unhealthy food to children, and on promoting physical activity.

Community Hospitals

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has (a) to build and (b) to close community hospitals in the South West London and St George's NHS Trust region.

Jane Kennedy: As confirmed in the recent White Paper 'Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services', the Government fully intends to fulfil its manifesto commitment to develop a new generation of modern National Health Service community hospitals over the next five years. To make this possible an initial capital investment of 100 million to build, rebuild, or refurbish at least fifty community hospitals has been identified.
	However, configuration of local service provision facilities remains a matter for primary care trusts. Therefore, the Department does not centrally hold information on local plans, such as for South West London or St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust region, to build or close community hospitals. Paragraph 6.44 of the white paper explains that the Department will be inviting:
	interested primary care trusts, where appropriate working with local authority partners, to bid for capital support for reinvestment in the new generation of community hospitals and smaller facilities offering local, integrated health and social care services. This will provide the opportunity to create many new community hospitals, as we have done with local improvement finance trust projects, and to expand services on existing community hospital sites if more appropriate. The details of the timing and the tender process will be published in a separate document in mid-2006.

Community Hospitals

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she has taken to monitor proposals to close inpatient beds in community hospitals in (a) Kingston and Surbiton, (b) South West London and (c) London.

Jane Kennedy: The Department does not monitor proposals to close in-patient beds. The planning of health service capacity, including in-patient beds, is for strategic health authorities to lead locally, within the framework of the Department's guidance on capacity planning. The planning of in-patient beds needs to take account of services available from other parts of local health and social care systems, including primary, community, rehabilitative and long-term care.

Community Matrons

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many community matrons are employed in each primary care trust in the North West London strategic health authority area; and to how many patients they are providing treatment.

Jane Kennedy: This information is not collected centrally.

Dentistry

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients were registered with NHS general dental practitioners in the York and Selby primary care trust area in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		General dental services (GDS) and personal dental services (PDS): Number of national health service patients registered with an NHS dentist in Selby and York primary care trust as at 30 September in each specified year
		
			  Number of registered patients 
		
		
			 1997 153,505 
			 1998 142,221 
			 1999 141,156 
			 2000 151,381 
			 2001 151,157 
			 2002 151,677 
			 2003 171,667 
			 2004 129,247 
			 2005 146,405 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. PDS schemes have varying registration periods. To ensure comparability with corresponding GDS data, PDS registrations are estimated using proxy registrations, namely the number of patients seen by PDS practices in the past 15 months. There will be a break in the registrations series at the point at which PDS schemes were introduced as the proxy registrations build up. Falls in registration rates will be particularly pronounced in the financial year 200405, when the majority of PDS schemes were introduced.
	2. Data for 2003 and earlier do not include those PDS schemes that do not have any registrations, for example, dental access centres, and are therefore not directly comparable with 2004 and 2005 data.
	Source:
	Dental Practice Board

Departmental Funding

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2006, Official Report, column 1297, to the hon. Member for Angus (Mr. Weir) on Departmental funding, if she will break down funding provided to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in each of the last three years by main budget heading.

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2006, Official Report, column 1296W, on departmental funding, if she will break down the figures given for funding provided to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain into (a) grant in aid and (b) payments for (i) rights and (ii) services in each of the last three years.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 21 March 2006
	The main items of Department payment to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) in each of the last three years, to March 2006, is as follows:
	
		Main payments to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
		
			 000 
			  200304(21) 200405 200506 
		
		
			 Pharmaceutical Press (now BNF Publications) 3,138 3,041 5,433 
			 Medicines Partnership 510 186 116 
		
	
	(21) In the period AprilDecember 2003, an additional 213,000 plus VAT was paid by the Department and the National Assembly for Wales to the RPSGB for the English and Welsh Drug Testing Scheme.

Diabetes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that all diabetes patients have access to a range of blood-glucose monitoring equipment.

Rosie Winterton: A range of blood-glucose testing strips is available on prescription from general practitioners and nurse prescribers. The full list is set out in Part IX of the Drug Tariff.

Diabetes

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department spent on (a) educational literature and (b) telephone support services for diabetes patients in 200405.

Rosie Winterton: The Department does not provide educational literature or telephone support services for people with diabetes centrally. From January 2006, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance on patient education will require all primary care trusts to implement NICE recommendations by providing all people with diabetes with high quality, structured education.

Drug Treatment Programmes

Iain Duncan Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total cost of the purchase of substitute drugs used in 200405 in drug treatment; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 20 March 2006
	The total cost of methadone and buprenorphine prescriptions identified for substance dependence, was 25,411.038 1 in 2004, the latest year for which figures are available.
	1 ePACT Data
	Notes:
	This information was obtained from the Prescribing Analysis and Cost Tool (PACT) system, which covers prescriptions prescribed by general practitioner (GP) practices in England and dispensed in the community in the United Kingdom. For data at primary care trust (PCT) level, prescriptions written by a GP practice located in a particular PCT but dispensed outside that PCT will be included in the PCT in which the GP practice is based. Prescriptions written in England but dispensed outside England are included. Prescriptions written in hospitals/clinics that are dispensed in the community, prescriptions dispensed in hospitals and private prescriptions are not included in PACT data. It is important to note this as some British National Formulary (BNF) sections have a high proportion of prescriptions written in hospitals that are dispensed in the community.
	For example, BNF chapter 4, Central Nervous System has a fair proportion of items written in mental health clinics that are dispensed in the communitythese prescriptions are not included in PACT data.

Genito-urinary Medicine Clinics

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to increase the number of genito-urinary medicine clinics in London.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on the 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 449W. It is for strategic health authorities (SHAs) and primary care trusts to determine how services are provided within their area.
	Sexual health is one of the top six priorities for the national health service in 200607. The White Paper Choosing Health: Making healthy choices easier published in November 2004 set out that by 2008 everyone should be offered an appointment within 48-hours of contacting a genitourinary clinic. SHAs have submitted plans to meet this target. This increased priority for sexual health and the implementation of Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services should significantly strengthen the incentive for local investment and service modernisation.
	Copies of the white papers are available in the Library.

General Practitioner Appointments

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have (a) requested and (b) received an appointment to see a general practitioner within 48 hours in (i) Ruislip-Northwood constituency and (ii) each London borough in each year since 1997.

Jane Kennedy: This information is not collected centrally.
	Since 2001, the Department has collected regular information from primary care trusts on whether patients are being offered the opportunity to be seen by a general practitioner or a primary care professional within the target timeframes specified in the NHS Plan. It does not however collect information on the total number of appointments which are available or their take-up by patients.

Home Oxygen

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of patients who have had difficulty obtaining home oxygen since the new arrangements were introduced; and what steps she is taking to assist them.

Jane Kennedy: This is a locally managed national health service service and the information requested is not held centrally. In the light of difficulties emerging in the first few days of the new arrangements, we took prompt action to ensure that patients continued to receive the oxygen they need via general practitioner prescriptions dispensed at their local pharmacy, under arrangements supporting a phased transfer to new suppliers. With the NHS, we are monitoring the service closely and we are updating the six-month transfer programme to support a smoother transition to the new arrangements.

Independent Sector Treatment Centre

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will place in the Library a copy of the business case produced for the establishment of an Independent Sector Treatment Centre in Southampton.

Caroline Flint: The procurement process for an independent sector treatment centre in Southampton is in its early stages. The business case relating to the Southampton scheme contains information that is commercially sensitive and we consider that its release would be likely to jeopardise the ability of the Department and the national health service to secure the best value for money.

Independent Sector Treatment Centre

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if she will make it her policy to ensure that all operations carried out in the proposed Southampton Independent Sector Treatment Centre are additional to those currently carried out by the Southampton University Hospitals Trust;
	(2)  what estimate she has made of the number of operations that will be transferred from the Southampton University Hospitals Trust to the Southampton Independent Sector Treatment Centre in the first year of operation.

Caroline Flint: We are working with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and New Forest and Southampton City Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to determine the exact number and type of operations that will be carried out in the proposed independent sector treatment centre (ISTC). The decision as to whether or not there will be transferred activity in an ISTC is generally made by the local national health service. In this instance, it is possible that the amount of transferred activity may amount for up to 37 per cent. of the activity but the final decision regarding the case-mix and proportion of operations that will be transferred will be made in consultation with the SHA and the PCTs, and following further discussion with a preferred bidder.

Leukaemia Specialists

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many leukaemia specialists are employed by the NHS in (a) Shropshire and (b) Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency.

Rosie Winterton: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The table shows medical consultants in the main cancer specialties within Shropshire and Staffordshire strategic health authority (SHA) by organisation.
	
		Hospital, Public Health Medicine and Community Health Services: Medical consultants in the main cancer specialties within Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA by organisation (England) at 30 September 2004
		
			 Numbers (headcount) 
			  Of which: 
			  All cancer specialties Clinical oncology Clinical radiology Haematology Histopathology 
		
		
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA 99 9 52 10 28 
			 Burton Hospitals National Health Service Trust 10  5 1 4 
			 Mid Staffordshire General Hospitals NHS Trust 12  6 2 4 
			 Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic and District Hospital NHS Trust 6  4  2 
			 Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust 32 4 16 3 9 
			 University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust 39 5 21 4 9 
		
	
	Source: NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre, Medical and Dental Workforce Census

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the resources available to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to inspect wholesaler dealers' licences.

Jane Kennedy: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the government body responsible for the safety and licensing of medicines in the United Kingdom, employs six full time good distribution practice inspectors. These inspectors inspect the facilities of licensed wholesale dealers of medicines for human use to confirm compliance with the European Commission's guideline on good distribution practice and UK medicines regulations.
	This level of resource is sufficient to maintain a regular and repeated inspection programme, of the distribution sites of licensed wholesale dealers.

Private Finance Initiative

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2005, Official Report, column 989W, on the private finance initiative (PFI), if she will list the PFI schemes which (a) had not made unitary payments as at the end of 200304 and (b) began unitary repayments in financial year (i) 200405 and (ii) 200506; what unitary payments have been made by each trust in each year; and what future payments are expected to be made by each trust.

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 23 January 2006, Official Report, column 1855W, which stated that a detailed list of unitary payment for schemes which have reached financial close had been placed in the Library.
	The unitary charge columns shows which schemes had commenced payments in each of the given financial years.

Pharmaceutical Industry

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is the policy of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency that any form of misconduct or non-compliance within a pharmaceutical company which significantly impacts on patient safety is an example of an expeditable safety concern, with reference to 'notification of safety concerns' as described in the draft of Volume 9A, updated to take account of Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 and Directive 2004/27/EC.

Jane Kennedy: Pharmaceutical companies as marketing authorisation holders have a legal duty to report to Competent Authorities, in the United Kingdom, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, any information impacting on the benefits and risks of a medicinal product for which they hold an authorisation. If misconduct or non-compliance with the legislation impacted on the risks and benefits of a medicinal product and was not reported, then a criminal offence may have been committed.
	The revised draft Volume 9A of the Rules Governing Medicinal Products for Human UseGuidelines on Pharmacovigilance for Medicinal Products for Human Use does not specify that misconduct or non-compliance within a pharmaceutical company is an expeditable safety concern.

Pharmaceutical Industry

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether pharmaceutical wholesalers are subject to the same (a) licence application tests, (b) standards of distribution and (c) inspection regimes irrespective of size.

Jane Kennedy: All applications for a wholesale dealer's licence for the distribution of medicinal products for human use, received by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), are subject to the same administrative processes. The applicant's site(s) is also subject to inspection to confirm compliance with the European Commission's guideline on good distribution practice and United Kingdom medicines regulations.
	The facilities of licensed wholesale dealers of medicines for human use are regularly inspected to confirm compliance with the European Commission's guideline on good distribution practice and UK medicines regulations.
	The MHRA's licensing and inspection regime for the distribution of medicinal products for human use applies, regardless of the size or nature of the wholesale distribution operation.

Physical Activity

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much her Department has spent on (a) promoting regular physical activity and (b) physical activity interventions for children since 1997.

Caroline Flint: The Department and the national health service promote the benefits of physical activity in many ways to professionals, the public and other stakeholders. In particular, primary care trusts are required to have systematic and managed health promotion programmes, including action on exercise, that are responsive to local needs. Spending on the promotion of sport and physical recreation by the NHS is not recorded centrally.
	Alongside spending by the NHS to support local delivery of physical activity programmes for adults and children, the Department has funded pilot work to inform interventions, as well as supporting projects through the Section 64 Scheme of Grants. This has included:
	The local exercise action pilot scheme (LEAP), which is jointly funded by the Department, Sport England and the Countryside Agency with an overall cost of 2.5 million over three years;
	A pilot in 200203 to test the effectiveness of offering pedometers as motivational tools to patients in general practitioner surgeries under a loan system to encourage greater walking, jointly funded by the Department and the Countryside Agency; and
	A joint Department, Department for Education and Science, and Youth Sport Trust pilot programme Schools on the Move, which includes resource materials for schools, teachers and young people to help integrate pedometers into the life of the school.

Selective Seratonin Re-uptake Inhibitors

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data are collected by her Department on the number of individuals prescribed selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors by general practitioners; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: Information is not available in the form requested. The Department does not hold data on the number of people who are prescribed medication. However, the latest available annual data shows there were 14.6 million prescriptions for selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors dispensed which were written by general practitioners in England. The net ingredient cost of these was 168.6 million.

Strokes

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time was for a consultation for patients who have reported minor strokes in the latest period for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: In the Royal College of Physicians' National Sentinel Stroke Audit 2004, the median of average waiting times for neurovascular clinics (clinic for suspected mini-strokes) for England was 14 days.

Strokes

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time was for (a) carotid ultrasound and (b) magnetic resonance imaging for stroke patients in the latest period for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.
	The Department has not collected data on waiting times in the past but has developed and rolled out a new diagnostics waiting times and activity data collection with effect from January 2006. This will collect data on a range of diagnostic tests. In addition, a bi-annual census will widen the collection. The Department will need to do some preliminary quality assurance work prior to release; however, the first monthly publication is expected in spring 2006.

Strokes

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many stroke patients had repeat strokes within three months of the first occurrence in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Strokes

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether it is the policy of the NHS to offer (a) an electrocardiograph, (b) blood tests, (c) carotid ultrasound and (d) magnetic resonance imaging on the first hospital visit following a stroke.

Rosie Winterton: The National clinical guidelines for stroke produced by the Royal College of Physicians provide a framework for stroke care within the national health service.
	These guidelines recommend that if a patient presents with a clinical syndrome that might be due to stroke, then brain imaging should be undertaken as soon as possible, within 24 hours at most of onset, unless there are good clinical reasons for not doing so. If the diagnosis is in doubt after a computed tomography scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) should be considered.
	A carotid duplex ultrasound should be performed on all patients being considered for carotid endarterectomy and confirmed with MRI, or with a second ultrasound.

Vaccines

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there are circumstances in which she would ask both the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to appraise the use of a particular vaccine by the NHS.

Caroline Flint: Both the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) may be involved in the consideration of a particular vaccine where the vaccine has had significant impact on national health service services. An example would be human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines which are in development and showing promise in protecting against cervical cancer. JCVI is considering these vaccines within its remit of providing advice on immunisation issues to health Ministers; NICE is considering their advice on the provision of cervical screening services should HPV vaccines be introduced.

Vaccines

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what obligations the NHS is under to use vaccines recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation; and under what circumstances guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation recommending the use of a particular vaccine would not be binding on the NHS.

Caroline Flint: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an advisory committee, and it is for health Ministers to consider the acceptance and implementation of such advice. Hence advice for JCVI per se is not binding on the national health service.

Vaccines

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what form guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation takes in respect of advice on the use or otherwise of a particular vaccine by the NHS.

Caroline Flint: The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provides advice to Ministers on all issues related to vaccination and immunisation. In carrying out this function, JCVI considers scientific and medical evidence on specific vaccines and makes recommendations accordingly. This is because the safety profile and efficacy of similar vaccines can vary.
	The Department purchases vaccines, following the advice from JCVI, and supplies them to the national health service.

Vulnerable Adults

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) registered sex offenders and (b) people previously convicted of sexual offences are working with vulnerable adults in health and care services.

Liam Byrne: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 23 January 2006 to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley), Official Report, column 1864W.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Electoral Register

John Spellar: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted in the last five years for failing to complete required returns in relation to the electoral register.

Bridget Prentice: It is an offence punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding 1,000 for an occupier of premises to whom an annual electoral registration form is sent to fail to complete and return it to an electoral registration officer (ERO) in respect of any resident who is eligible to be registered to vote. Local EROs are responsible for compiling a register of eligible electors for their registration area and would hold locally any records regarding prosecutions or convictions for failure to complete and return the registration form or supply information requested by the ERO in relation to electoral registration. However, information on the number of prosecutions or convictions for this offence is not collected centrally.

Notaries

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what representations she has received from notaries public on barriers to their working in other EU member states.

Bridget Prentice: In 2006, my Department received one letter from a Member of Parliament concerning notaries public. No correspondence from notaries public or from members of the public was received in 2005.
	The Notaries Society touched upon this issue in their response to the white paper, The Future of Legal Services.

Notaries

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the barriers facing British notaries public in working elsewhere in the EU; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: Non-Spanish notaries have been experiencing difficulties undertaking conveyancing services in Spain.
	I am also aware that there is some concern that the draft Services Directive as currently set out in the European Parliament would exclude notaries from its scope. The UK is continuing discussions on this.

Notaries

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the total annual value of the EU market in the services of notaries public.

Bridget Prentice: No assessment has been made or is planned.

Notaries

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment she has made of the appropriateness of the qualifications necessary to practise as a notary public (a) in England and Wales and (b) elsewhere in the EU; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: Qualification as a notary is regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury under the direction of the Master of the Faculties.
	As the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs has no role in the regulation of notaries, no assessment of the qualifications needed necessary to practise as a notary public, either in the UK or EU, have been made.

Property Sales

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many properties have been sold in Coventry South since 1997.

Harriet Harman: No court buildings have been sold in the Coventry South constituency area since 1997.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Domestic Violence

Lynda Waltho: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what discussions she has had with Ministerial colleagues on improving the services offered to women seeking refuge from domestic violence.

Meg Munn: As Minister for Women, I sit on the Inter-Ministerial Group for Domestic Violence chaired by my noble Friend Baroness Scotland of Asthal which manages the performance of the cross-Government National Domestic Violence Delivery Plan by reviewing progress at quarterly meetings. This is the mechanism for improving the services offered to women seeking refuge from domestic violence nationally.
	A substantially revised domestic violence Best Value Performance Indicator will help assess overall provision and effectiveness of local authority services designed to help victims of domestic violence.

Equality Audits

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what assessment she has made of the merits of equality audits.

Meg Munn: holding answer 27 February 2006
	The Government encourage businesses to carry out equal pay audits because it will identify if a pay system has any bias based on gender, which will in turn enable the organisation to avoid costly litigation, preserve its reputation and attract and retain the best people. Women are more likely to see businesses as an 'employer of choice' if they can be seen to be committed to equal opportunities.
	Equal Opportunities Commission's report Equal pay reviews survey 2005 shows that in 2005, the reason stated by 77 per cent. of large organisations for carrying out an equal pay audit was because they wanted to be seen as a good practice employer.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Active Communities Directorate

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account is taken of gender equality in the work of the Active Communities Directorate.

Paul Goggins: The Active Communities Directorate (ACD), as part of the Home Office, is dedicated to promoting equality, fairness and respect.
	The ACD, through its many consultations with the voluntary and community sector, has endeavoured to seek the views of a wide range of organisations in the development and delivery of all its work.
	It also aims to use best practice to assess, consult and monitor the impact of its policies with regards to race equality, disability and gender. The Home Office is running a five year programme promoting the importance of impact assessments and best practice on how to carry these out.

Antisocial Behaviour

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what representations he has received on antisocial behaviour orders from organisations which represent (a) children's and (b) human rights issues;
	(2)  what the Government's definition of antisocial behaviour is; how the definition was arrived at; and what assessment has been made of the suitability of the definition.

Hazel Blears: We have a number of regular discussions with interested parties including those that represent children's and human rights interests. We have, for example, worked with a wide range of stakeholders on revising our guidance for practitioners.
	The definition of antisocial behaviour is contained in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. This is
	acting in a manner that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as (the defendant).
	The definition is broad and allows for a range of activities to be included within it. However, if we were to strictly define antisocial behaviour by certain types of behaviour or break it down into specific categories and sub-categories we would risk excluding some types of behaviour which are problematic or including others which may not be. We believe this would restrict action. Antisocial behaviour manifests itself in different ways across different communities and we believe agencies should have the flexibility to determine what constitutes antisocial behaviour at a local level. The current definition was endorsed by the Home Affairs Select Committee in their report into antisocial behaviour published on 5 April 2005.

Antisocial Behaviour

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was raised by local authorities in fines for antisocial behaviour in each year for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.
	The total local authority fixed penalty revenue is:
	
		
		
			  Litter Dog fouling Noise Graffiti Fly-posting 
		
		
			 199798 16505 7010 0 n/a n/a 
			 199899 63240 29012.50 0 n/a n/a 
			 19992000 39075 32637.50 0 n/a n/a 
			 200001 28470 41386 0 n/a n/a 
			 200102 138840.20 51037 (22) n/a n/a 
			 200203 231547.11 69484 (22) n/a n/a 
			 200304 193438 102325 (22) n/a n/a 
			 200405 301535 62879 1693 293 1703 
		
	
	(22) No figures available.

Biometric Passports

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2006, Official Report, columns 211556W, on passport information sharing, what representations he has (a) made to and (b) received from (i) the European Union and (ii) European nation-states on the wholesale sharing of (A) biometric and (B) other details to be contained within biometric passports; and if he will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: I have made no representations to the European Union or European nation-states on the wholesale sharing of the details contained in UK passports, including the facial biometric, nor have I received any representations.

Carlile Inquiry

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will respond to the recommendations of Lord Carlile of Berriew's inquiry into the treatment of children in penal custody; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: My colleague, Baroness Scotland, is meeting Lord Carlile on 29 March to discuss his report. The Home Office and the Youth Justice Board are looking at the recommendations in the report. We will announce in due course any action we propose to take in relation to them.

Correspondence

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter from the chairman of the Cheshire police authority dated 18 November 2005.

Hazel Blears: A reply was sent on my behalf by the Police Structures Review programme manager on 13 February 2006. The Home Secretary and I also met with Mr. Nurse and other chairs of police authorities and chief constables from the north west region on 6 February.

Crime Categories/Statistics

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in what circumstances crime against business is recorded as a distinct category; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office currently publishes annual total crime statistics recorded by the police in England and Wales for the following offences specifically relating to business crime; theft by an employee, theft from shops, theft of an automatic machine or meter and robbery of business property. The most recent figures are available in Statistical Bulletin 11/05 Crime in England and Wales 200405 at http://morello.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/crimeew0405.html
	We recognise that these figures do not cover all the crimes experienced by the business sector (either directly or indirectly), and that businesses themselves do not report every incident for a variety of reasons. Given this, in July 2005 the Home Office also published the findings of the 2002 Commercial Victimisation Survey. This provided further information on the actual levels of business crime as well as an indication of the proportion of businesses which report the crimes committed against them.
	The Home Office Business Crime Team is currently looking at how information on business crime can be enhancedspecifically whether it is feasible to identify crimes against businesses in police recorded crime statistics. Findings from crime recording pilots in South Wales and Greater Manchester are currently being considered.

Crime Categories/Statistics

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the trends in (a) crimes of violence against the person and (b) drug offences since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: An analysis of Crime in England and Wales, using recorded crime statistics and the results of the British Crime Survey, was published in Home Office Statistical Bulletin number 11/05, 'Crime in England and Wales 20042005'. Chapter four contains a section on drug and other offences and chapter five analyses violent crime. The bulletin can be found on the internet site at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/index.htm.

Custody Statistics (Children)

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children were in custody in each year since 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information regarding the number of children under the age of 18 who are held in custody is provided in the following table.
	Information for prison establishments is as recorded on the Prison Service IT system.
	Information for Secure Training Centres and Local Authority Secure Children's Homes has been supplied by the Youth Justice Board for the years 2000 onwards, and by the Department for Education and Science for earlier years.
	
		Young persons population in custody at 30 June 1997 to 2005
		
			  Local Authority Secure Children's Homes(23) Secure Training Centres(24) 15 to 17-year-olds in prison 
		
		
			 1997 110  2,479 
			 1998 150  2,466 
			 1999 145  2,422 
			 2000 267 125 2,434 
			 2001 292 116 2,434 
			 2002 314 135 2,607 
			 2003 327 183 2,253 
			 2004 267 181 2,274 
			 2005 237 248 2,310 
		
	
	(23) Figures from 2000 to 2005 from YJB, as at 30 June each year. Figures from 1997 to 1999 from DfES, as at 31 March each year.
	(24) Introduced in 2000figures from YJB

Custody Visitors

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many independent custody visitors in England and Wales have signed the Official Secrets Act 1989 as part of the (a) appointment and (b) re-appointment process;
	(2)  what guidelines he has issued on whether independent custody visitors need to sign the Official Secrets Act 1989;
	(3)  how many independent custody visiting panels have been asked by their police authority to sign the Official Secrets Act 1989.

Hazel Blears: Information is not held centrally. Every police authority is required under section 51 of the Police Reform Act 2002 to make arrangements for independent custody visitors in their area and to keep those arrangements under review. Police authorities are responsible for recruiting, selecting and appointing independent custody visitors. It is an operational matter for the police authority in consultation with the relevant chief officer of police to consider the level of vetting and security clearance required in their police area.

Danish Embassy Protests

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been charged with criminal offences as a result of their actions outside the Danish embassy in London on 4 February 2006.

Paul Goggins: The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has informed me that five men have been arrested in connection with offences believed to have been committed during a demonstration in central London on 3 February 2006. Three have been charged and two have been bailed pending further investigations.

Departmental Staff

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff reductions have been made in order to meet his Department's efficiency savings target since July 2004; and how much his Department has saved as a result of such reductions.

Charles Clarke: I refer the hon. Member to my answer given on 27 February 2006, Official Report, column 82W.

Drug-related Crime (Peterborough)

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he is taking to tackle drug-related crime in Peterborough constituency.

Paul Goggins: Drug related crime is generally defined as crime committed by drug misusing offenders to fund their drug misuse. The Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) was introduced by this Government as a specific response to the problem. It is part of the largest investment ever in addressing the misery caused by drugs in our communities.
	The intensive form of programme operates in 97 areas, including Peterborough, with historically high levels of drug related crime and provides a route out of crime and into drug treatment. It brings to bear on offenders a range of interventions such as drug testing and restriction on bail to ensure that drug misusers confront their offending behaviour and receive drug treatmentfor which waiting times have been substantially reduced over the past three years.
	The most prolific of these offenders are also targeted by the Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) Programme. In Peterborough both the DIP and PPO schemes are well managed and effective. They have received additional Government funding to work together to ensure their joint operations and working are properly developed. Working closely with the police, the Nene Project in Peterborough is an excellent example of a multi-agency partnership approach that has contributed to a reduction in acquisitive crime and was highly commended in the Office of Public Management Annual Leadership Awards.
	We continue to make the fight against drug related crime more effectivefor example, following the 2005 Drugs Act, drug testing on arrest for a trigger offence (and a required assessment for drug treatment) was implemented in three areas on one December 2005 and will be rolled out to Peterborough on 31 March 2006.
	As well as programmes such as DIP and PPOs, the police continue to tackle drugs at both level one and two, including recent successful targeted operations combating local drug dealers. In addition, Peterborough police work closely with the force economic crime unit to identify and seize assets of people that profit through drug dealing and associated criminality. In 200405 Cambridgeshire constabulary obtained confiscation orders of over 2 million.
	Nationally, acquisitive crimeto which drug-related crime makes a substantial contributionis going down and fell by 12 per cent. in the year to April 2005.

Fireworks Offences

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for the misuse of fireworks in the Northumbria police force area.

Hazel Blears: Offences under the Fireworks Regulations 2004 (made under section 11 of the Fireworks Act 2003 for breach of the national fireworks curfew, the illegal possession of category four fireworks and the possession by a person under 18 of an adult firework) attract penalty notices for disorder, as does the offence of throwing fireworks. The offence of throwing fireworks has been included in the penalty notice for disorder scheme since it was introduced nationally during 2004. The offences under the Fireworks Regulations 2004 were brought into the scheme with effect from 11 October 2004.
	The numbers of penalty notices issued for these offences in the Northumbria police force area during 2004, alongside provisional data from January to September 2005, are provided in the following table.
	
		Number of penalty notices for disorder issued for fireworks offences, Northumbria police force area, 2004 and January-September 2005 provisional data
		
			 Police force Throwing fireworks Breach of fireworks curfew Possession of a category 4 firework Possession by under 18 of adult firework 
		
		
			 Northumbria 
			 2004 3
			 January-September 2005 (provisional) 
		
	
	Source:
	RDSOffice for Criminal Justice Reform

Home Detention Curfew

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many home detention curfew applications which were refused were referred to the Ombudsman in each year since 2001; how many times the Ombudsman asked the board to reconsider its decision in each year; and in how many of those cases the board then granted a home detention curfew order.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Identity Fraud

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department has taken to raise awareness of identity fraud amongst his Department's employees.

Andy Burnham: I launched the Home Office identity theft leaflet in September 2005. Home Office employees were made aware of the launch through the Department's Intranet, which also included information about the Home Office identity theft websitewww.identitytheft.org.uk. The leaflet was also distributed to all UK Passport Service offices. The Home Office also supported National Identity Fraud Prevention Week, which took place in October 2005. During the week, the identity theft leaflet was made available to employees and information about identity fraud was communicated through the internal staff magazine, notice-boards, display stand, Intranet and plasma screens. This included advice about what employees can do to protect against identity fraud, what to do if it happens to them and where to get further help.

IMPACT

Eric Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Intelligence Management Prioritisation Analysis Co-ordination Tasking (IMPACT) Initiative 2005; and if he will list the component parts of (a) IMPACT and (b) IMPACT 2005.

Hazel Blears: IMPACT 2005 was the title of the project to deliver the short term elements of the programme; in particular the development and deployment of the IMPACT Nominal Index (INI) and the associated work on data preparation in forces. With the delivery of the INI on 23 December, IMPACT 2005 came to an end and the work was subsumed into the wider IMPACT Programme to deliver the information sharing capability which will give full effect to Sir Michael Richard's recommendations 1, 2, 4 and 8 to 11. The components of IMPACT are subject to the decisions to be made following consideration of the business case.

Indecent Images (Cautions)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of offenders who have received a caution for having indecent pictures of children have been placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

Paul Goggins: All adults (aged 18 years old or above) who are the subject of a conviction, finding or caution for an offence under section one of the Protection of Children Act 1978 (indecent photographs of children) or under section 160 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (possession of indecent photographs of a child) are made subject to the notification requirements of Part two of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, which are more commonly known as the sex offenders register. These requirements apply as an automatic consequence of a conviction, finding or caution for a relevant sexual offence.
	Any minor (under 18 years old) convicted for the same offences will only be made subject to the notification requirements if they are sentenced to a term of imprisonment or receive a community sentence of at least 12 months. Minors cautioned for these offences will not be made subject to the notification requirements.

Life Expectancy

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2006, Official Report, column 1665W, on life expectancy, whether the two studies referred to provided any evidence of the impact of experiencing burglary on life expectancy among older victims.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office conducted some research in this area and produced a report in 2003, Experiences of older burglary victims, (R. Donaldson (2003) Home Office Findings 198). This looked at a small group of 56 people living in sheltered accommodation who had been the victim of burglary.
	The report suggests that the health of these people declined faster than non-burgled fellow residents of a similar age. Two years after the burglary they were 2.4 times more likely to have died or be in residential care. This was a small study, so should be treated with caution.
	Following on from this, the Home Office produced the report Older victims of burglary and distraction burglary-recommendations for practitioners (2003 Home Office Development and Practice Report 11), which drew on the Donaldson report and another report Distraction burglary amongst older adults  minority ethnic communities (Thornton et al (2003) Home Office Findings 197).
	The Thornton report found that the impact on victims was less than the Donaldson report, but there were differences between the samples studied. The average age in Donaldson's study was significantly older (81 compared to 76).
	The Thornton report had only 16 per cent. of its 215 subjects living in a warden assisted environment. The Thornton report, while not specifically concluding on life expectancy, found a smaller proportion of people showing any change in physical health, post-incident.

Life Sentences

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many inmates serving life sentences there were in each year since 1992.

Fiona Mactaggart: Information on the numbers of prisoners serving life sentences held in each year since 1992 is to be found in Prison Statistics England and Wales 2002, CM 5996, table 5.1, and table 8.1 in the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004 for England and Wales

Mini-motorbikes

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what powers local authorities have to tackle irresponsible use of mini-motorbikes.

Hazel Blears: Local authorities and the police have a range of interventions available to them to tackle this problem. In particular any mechanically propelled vehicle can be seized by the police if it is being driven both in a careless and inconsiderate manner on-road or off-road without lawful authority, and is likely to be causing antisocial behaviour. In addition, local authorities can seize any noise making equipment including vehicles, when the noise constitutes a statutory nuisance.

National Offender Management Service

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under what legal authority regional offender managers negotiate service level agreements with local probation areas under the National Offender Management Service arrangements.

Fiona Mactaggart: Regional Offender Managers will be commissioning services from prison and probation areas through Service Level Agreements from 1 April 2006. The current legislative framework, which sets out the statutory duties of probation boards remains in place, and is unchanged by the creation of Service Level Agreements. However, the SLAs are the key mechanism for introducing commissioning, and signed SLAs will demonstrate the strength of the relationships. Any legal authority derives from the fact that ROMs are Crown servants exercising the powers of the Secretary of State.

Number Plate Recognition

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders have been charged after being stopped following the use of automatic and number plate recognition cameras.

Hazel Blears: The number of offenders that have been charged after being stopped following the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras is not held centrally.

Number Plate Recognition

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cameras that automatically recognise number plates are installed on roads on British roads.

Hazel Blears: There are a variety of fixed site and mobile Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR)-enabled cameras in existence. These cameras are operated by a number of different organisations such as the police service, local authorities and other system owners. The information on the total numbers of cameras is not collected centrally.

Number Plate Recognition

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to extend automated number plate recognition technology across the country.

Hazel Blears: Following the publicised success of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Project Laser Two, involving 23 police forces, this concept was then rolled out to all forces in England and Wales on one April 2005.
	The Government have made 25 million capital funding available to the Police Service in years 200506 and a further 7.5 million in 2006 and 2007 (32.5 million in total) for the provision of ANPR technological development. This investment both addresses, and builds on, the success that ANPR has achieved in the fight against serious and organised crime, terrorism, volume crime and road traffic offending.

Passports

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to improve the security of the UK passport to prevent identity theft.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 20 March 2006
	The UK Passport Service is engaged in a range of initiatives designed to enhance the security of the passport issuing process and the UK passport itself. Because of the nature of fraud and the way in which criminals seeking to obtain passports illegally may operate, UKPS has taken a holistic approach to enhancing security. The initiatives which are under way are therefore designed to ensure that each part of the passport operation contributes to the security of the whole system and ensures the integrity of the UK passport.
	The UKPS corporate and business plan for 200510 describes these initiatives and sets out the agency's strategic objectives for fraud prevention. This programme of work includes:
	better arrangements for the reporting of lost, stolen and recovered passports, and the storage of that data on a new database which is shared with UK Border Control, and Interpol.
	the use of secure delivery for the despatch of all passports which has reduced losses of passports in the post by 80 per cent.
	increasing the professionalism of its fraud investigation capability through the establishment in all passport offices of fraud and intelligence units. These units have been provided with specialist professional training accredited by the University of Portsmouth and are further supported by the introduction of a fraud casework and management system.
	further developing IT systems to build on the automatic checks on applications that already take place, to better link passport records to an individual.
	the introduction of more secure passports incorporating biometrics identifiers. The first UK e.Passport was issued on 6 March, and rollout to all customers should be completed by the end of August.
	the application, from March of this year, of the social footprint approach to confirming an individuals identity through a Personal Identification Project (PIP).
	the introduction from November 2006 of mandatory interviews for first time adult passport applicants.
	developing the capability to have automated on line access to UK birth and death records and to naturalisation records.
	using facial recognition technology to identify fraudulent duplicate applications.
	planning for the introduction of fingerprints in passports by 2009.
	Data sharing and the positive validation of passport data is critical to the fight against fraud. The UKPS has developed Omnibase which provides secure web based access to passport information for FCO consular posts abroad, UK's Border control authorities, the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency, Criminal Records Bureau and other Government Departments. From July of this year, and building on successful pilots, UKPS plan to extend this passport validation service (PVS) to financial institutions who receive passports as evidence of identity from customers opening bank accounts, seeking mortgages or undertaking other financial transactions. The pilots have already shown that PVS can support users in the identification of suspicious passports and prevent fraud.

Police

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding his Department has allocated to the special constables' scheme in each year it has been running in (a) West Lancashire and (b) Lancashire.

Hazel Blears: Home Office specific grants to police forces under the Special Constabulary Capacity Building Scheme began in January 2004.
	Payments are made to the Police Authority and are not broken down by district. Payments made to Lancashire are shown as follows:
	
		
			   
		
		
			 2004 52,000 
			 2005 70,000 
			 200607 21,952 
		
	
	For 200607 the scheme covers 15 months from 1 January 2006 to 31 March 2007 to bring payments into line with financial years. The figure shown for 200607 is for grants made for the period 1 January to 31 March 2006. A second instalment of 65,500 has been provisionally allocated for the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007.

Police

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the budgetary implications of amalgamating police forces with different levels of liability for police injury pensions; and what arrangements he plans to put in place to ensure consistent transitional arrangements for the payment of police injury pensions during the process of police force amalgamation.

Hazel Blears: Police injury pensions are paid out of the operating account of the Police Authority for the force from which the officer retired. When forces are amalgamated the new Police Authority that is created will take on the liability for the payment of all police injury awards. In the transitional period between the setting up the new strategic police authority and the establishment of the new strategic force, each existing authority will continue to pay such pensions until the precursor police authorities are abolished on 1 April in the year of amalgamation.
	As a consequence of the Police Negotiating Board Agreement of May 2002 guidance was issued to forces in March 2003 to ensure greater consistency on the management of ill health retirement and injury awards. This was supplemented by detailed guidance on how to assess claims for injury awards, which was made available to forces in January 2004 as part of the briefing for the newly set-up Police Medical Appeal Boards.
	The Home Office will work with forces and authorities in planning and implementing amalgamations. Each new force will have dedicated business change support to ensure that mergers are managed effectively.

Police

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether police pensions are (a) revenue grant funded and (b) paid from funded schemes; what proportion of the annual revenue allocation for police operations for 200506 went towards the payment of pensions; what the change has been in that proportion over the last 10 years; what the revenue grant for the pension commitment was in (i) cash and (ii) real terms in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Police pensions are currently funded on a pay as you go basis whereby all pensions are paid from the Police Authority's operating account and therefore directly funded by the revenue grant.
	In 200506 15 per cent. of the annual revenue allocation for police operations was spent on police pensions 1 .
	The revenue grant is unhypothecated, it is a general grant provided to enable police authorities to meet their costs. As such it is not possible to say what was provided for pensions as it is for Police Authorities to determine how their grant is spent.
	From 1 April 2006 a new system will be used to finance the Police Pension Scheme. The cost of pensions in payment will be met from a new pensions account. Authorities will pay officer and employer contributions into this new account and the Government will top up it up with a grant if there is a shortfall or will recoup any surplus.
	1 Source:
	Police Statistics 200506 (Estimates), CIPFA: Statistics Information Service.

Police

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what additional funding will be made available to each of the police forces in the West Midlands to help with the costs of their merger into a new West Midlands force; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: We have set aside 50 million next year and 75 million in 200708 across England and Wales to address prospective force amalgamations. The Government is currently looking carefully at the funding requirements of the costs of merger within the West Midlands.

Police

David Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision was made for the transport costs of community police officers in rural areas in (a) 200405 and (b) 200506.

Hazel Blears: This information is not held centrally. Expenditure on policing supported by Government grant or spent centrally on services for the police increased by 39 per cent. (over 3 billion) between 200001 and 200506. Leicestershire received its fair share of available funding. Allocation of resources and appropriate budget management are matters for the Chief Constable of Leicestershire Constabulary and the Police Authority.

Police

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what routine background checks are made on (a) serving police officers, (b) police recruits and (c) community support officers; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Enhanced vetting checks are carried out on officers working in sensitive posts.
	Before appointing anyone as a police officer, criminal record checks are carried out on applicants and their families. Employment and education history are checked and references obtained. Local intelligence checks, financial vetting and security vetting are also carried out.
	All Police Community Support Officers are subject to criminal records and local intelligence checks.

Prisoners

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the potential for the rehabilitation of offenders through the companionship of animals, with particular reference to animal-assisted therapy programmes in prisons.

Fiona Mactaggart: There has been no research commissioned by the Home Office to evaluate the potential of animal-assisted therapy in the rehabilitation of offenders in prison. The Home Office does have a programme of research evaluating the impact of interventions aimed at targeting the criminogenic needs of offenders.

Prisoners

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the use of segregation units in prisons; what facilities each prison's segregation unit contains; and what mechanisms are in place to ensure appropriate use of segregation facilities.

Fiona Mactaggart: The policy on design and use of segregation units is contained within Prison Service Order 1700. As a minimum segregation units provide accommodation to the same standard as that on normal location. Under the Prison and Young Offender Institution (YOI) Rules prisoners may be placed in segregation for Good Order or Discipline (GOOD), own protection, awaiting adjudication, or cellular confinement. Prisoners on dirty protest may also be moved to special accommodation in a segregation unit. The PSO sets out the required management checks that take place in segregation units on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Additionally members of the IMB visit twice a week.

Prisons

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps are being taken by his Department to improve co-ordination between the mental health establishment and the Prison Service in the provision of services to the prison population.

Fiona Mactaggart: Since 2005, most national health service primary care trusts have been responsible for commissioning healthcare services in the publicly run prisons in England and Wales. From April 2006, all PCTs will have this responsibility. Prison healthcare was previously the responsibility of the Prison Service. These new arrangements have resulted in an alignment of prison health services, including mental health services, with the mainstream NHS.
	In addition, the Department of Health is investing nearly 20 million a year in NHS mental health in-reach services for prisoners. These are community mental health teams working within prisons and therefore help to provide continuing care as prisoners move between prison and the community. By the spring, every prison in England and Wales will have access to these services.
	The Government is working to create still greater co-ordination of the agencies involved in providing mental health services in prisons. The Home Office and the Department of Health recently produced joint guidance to help staff delivering mental health services in prisons work more effectively with their NHS colleagues, to facilitate quicker transfers to hospital for people whose mental health difficulties mean they are too ill to remain in prison. This guidance, The transfer of prisoners to and from hospital under sections 47 and 48 of the Mental Health Act (1983), Prison Service Instruction 03/2006 is available on the Prison Service's website at http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/resourcecentre/psispsos/listpsis/

QinetiQ

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts were awarded to QinetiQ by the Home Department (a) with and (b) without competitive tendering in (i) 200203, (ii) 200304 and (iii) 200405; and what the value of the contract was in each case.

Charles Clarke: The available information recorded by the Home Office on contracts awarded to QinetiQ is in the attached table.
	Information is not held centrally, and existing purchasing systems do not necessarily record whether tenders are competitively tendered. It is not possible to collate this information comprehensively without incurring disproportionate cost.
	The delay in replying was in light of advice from the Ministry of Defence's external lawyers in relation to the QinetiQ Initial Public Offering Process. In sum, the advice was that the release of detailed, material commercial information about QinetiQ during the IPO process could possibly result in failure to comply with legal obligations which require the QinetiQ prospectus (published on 25 January) to be the source of information on which investors decide whether or not to buy shares in QinetiQ. The period that this advice applied to ended on 11 March.
	
		
			 Description Competitively tendered? Contract value () 
		
		
			 200203   
			 Passive Millimetric Wave Machines competitive tender 1,262,000 
			 200304   
			 Criminal Records BureauIndependent Review of IT System competitive tender 55,000 
			 Criminal Justice IT Security Health Check n/k 11,200 
			
			 200405   
			 Criminal Records Bureau Technical Assurance of iPLX response non-competitive tender 12,000 
			 UK Passport Agency CRAMM study competitive tender 78,000 
			 UK Passport Agency Finance  Procurement Project Manager competitive tender 79,920 
			 Technical consultancy n/k 8,973 
			 Analysis of SITA's monopoly for the provision of passenger data n/k 26,918 
			 Analysis of SITA's monopoly for the provision of passenger data n/k 8,483 
			 Consultancy support n/k 8,000 
			 Horizon Redevelopment project n/k 52,917 
			 Adelphi Purchase Order No 7004028 n/k 2,550 
			 Adelphi Purchase Order No 7004586 n/k 10,637

Security Industry

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to allow the security industry to deploy unlicensed staff in the event that the Approved Contractors Scheme, under the Private Security Industry Act 2001, is delayed past 28 March.

Paul Goggins: I announced on 16 February that the Approved Contractors Scheme (ACS) Regulations were tabled on the 27 February 2006 to bring the ACS into force from 20 March 2006. As of 21 March, 65 companies had received approved contractor status with a further 133 applications submitted.

Security Industry

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will take steps to ensure that details of the Approved Contractors Scheme set out in the Private Securities Industry Act 2001 will be announced in time for implementation by the Security Industry Authority before March.

Paul Goggins: On 16 February, I announced the details of the Approved Contractors Scheme (ACS). Regulations were tabled on the 27 February 2006 and the ACS brought into force on 20 March 2006. As of 21 March, the Security Industry Authority have approved 65 companies and have received a further 133 applications.

Sexual Offences Act

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests and (b) successful prosecutions there have been under section 47 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is not available centrally. The information on arrests that is collected is based on persons arrested for recorded crime (notifiable offences) by main offence group only (i.e. sexual offences, violence against the person and burglary etc.) and therefore does not identify individual offences.
	Data held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform show that there have been no convictions in 2004 for offences relating to paying for sex with a child under section 47 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. This Act came into force on 1 May 2004.

Social Exclusion

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding streams his Department plans to finance in 200607 to tackle social exclusion.

Paul Goggins: Social Exclusion is a multi faceted problem and there are many Home Office programmes and funding streams that contribute towards tackling it. Fear of crime, antisocial behaviour and community cohesion, reinforce social exclusion, and we are working closely with other government departments to tackle these issues.
	The Respect Action Plan (RAP) is central to the Government's drive to step up and broaden the clampdown on antisocial behaviour and to promote decent behaviour. The plan includes measures to tackle the causes of unacceptable behaviour by targeting the most disadvantaged communities and working on a national network of intensive family support projects. This will reinforce government efforts to improve the life chances of those in greatest need and tackle the cycle of inter-generational disadvantage.
	Fear of crime is more prevalent in inner city and high crime areas. To address these and other variations the Home Office is delivering a targeted communications strategy, ensuring that the facts about crime and fear of crime are made known through a wide network of practitioners and community activists. Since 2002 the strategy has reached over 10,000 practitionersand through them an estimated three million people.
	Community capacity and empowerment is key to improving life-chances. Firm Foundations, (Home Office, 2004), sets out the Government's framework for Community Capacity Building. The Active Citizenship for Active Learning (ALAC) programme also helps adults develop the skills and confidence to make a difference as an active citizen. In addition, we have recently funded a series of problem solving projects to learn more about how to involve socially excluded groups. We are also investing 150 million through the ChangeUp programme to improve the support services available to voluntary and community sector organisations, including those working to tackle social exclusion. And we are working with other Departments and local authorities to foster improved cohesion between different communities. We are providing new resources through the Faith Communities Capacity Building Fund to fund work by faith groups which promote better understanding and dialogue between different faith communities.
	Central to this strategy is the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund which brings together Home Office and Office of the Deputy Prime Minister funding aimed at tackling crime, illegal drugs and antisocial behaviour; empowering communities and improving the condition of streets and public spaces. The Fund is paid to all top tier local authorities in England and will total at least 220 million in 200607. The Fund also represents the main Home Office contribution to Local Area Agreements, which help to focus and join up actions addressing issues of local importance, such as social exclusion.

Telephone Numbers

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the (a) 0800, (b) 0845 and (c) 0870 telephone numbers for the public administered by (i) his Department and (ii) agencies which report to him.

Charles Clarke: The information is as follows:
	(i) The Department utilises the following such numbers:
	(a) 0800 389 7913 Immigration and Nationality Directorate (Asylum Appeals)
	0800 389 8289 Immigration and Nationality Directorate, Minicom (Immigration and Nationality Enquiry Bureau (INEB)
	0800 587 5572 Work Permits UK Helpline
	(b) 0845 010 5200 Immigration and Nationality Directorate (Citizenship Helpline)
	0845 010 6677 Immigration and Nationality Directorate (Employers Helpline)
	0845 039 8002 Prospects Helpline
	0845 456 0700 HM Prison Service (Recruitment)
	0845 600 0914 Immigration and Nationality Directorate (National Asylum Support Services (NASS) Voucher Enquiries)
	0845 601 1143 Immigration and Nationality Directorate (Public Fax (Telephone Enquiry Bureau))
	0845 601 2298 Immigration and Nationality Directorate (Evidence and Enquiry)
	0845 602 1739 Immigration and Nationality Directorate (NASS Telephone Enquiry Bureau)
	(c) 0870 000 1397 HM Prison Service
	0870 000 1585 Home Office Public Enquiry Line (replaced on 15 September 2005 with a geographical number, 020 7035 4848 but retained while phone books and other publicity is updated)
	0870 000 8518 Crime Reduction (advice on preventing care crime)
	0870 220 2000 Together (advice to practitioners on tackling antisocial behaviour)
	0870 240 3781 Immigration and Nationality Directorate (INEB)
	0870 241 0645 Immigration and Nationality Directorate (INEB Application Forms)
	0870 241 6523 Immigration and Nationality Directorate (Complaints)
	0870 606 7766 Immigration and Nationality Directorate (Main)
	(ii) This type of information is not held centrally in respect of the agencies which report to the Secretary of State for the Home Department, however, the following informationwhich may not be comprehensivehas been obtained:
	(a) None
	(b) 0845 300 2002 Independent Police Complaints Commission
	(c) 0870 240 8090 UK Passport Service (Textphone)
	0870 241 1902 UK Passport Service (Complaints)
	0870 243 0100 Security Industry Authority
	0870 243 4477 UK Passport Service (High Street Partners)
	0870 521 0410 UK Passport Service (Main)
	0870 909 0344 Criminal Records Bureau (Minicom)
	0870 909 0811 Criminal Records Bureau (Main)
	0870 909 0822 Criminal Records Bureau (Registration)
	0870 909 0844 Criminal Records Bureau (Disclosure applications)

Terrorism

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether a link has been established between professional counterfeit operations and other forms of organised crime, with particular reference to terrorism.

Paul Goggins: Identity fraud and other misrepresentations using counterfeit documents (or fraudulently obtained ones) are employed both by organised criminals and terrorists. Some terrorist and criminal groups have the capability to produce such documents for themselves while others will look to third parties.

Terrorism

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made with the consultation on helping British victims of terrorism and other acts of violence abroad; and when he expects to make an announcement.

Charles Clarke: The consultation period for the Green Paper Rebuilding Lives: supporting victims of crime ended on 1 March 2006.
	The Government are looking at the scope for a national charitable fund to provide some immediate help for those caught up in terrorist attacks wherever they take place. It is also looking at ways of raising public awareness of insurance while travelling abroad. An announcement will be made in due course.

Under-age Drinking

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department has taken to ensure that off-licences and supermarkets do not sell alcohol to under-age drinkers.

Paul Goggins: We are working closely with the industry, including retailers to tackle sales of alcohol to under-age drinkers. As a result, the industry, supported by many of the major bodies, recently launched its Social Responsibility Standards for the Production and Sale of Alcoholic Drinks in the UK, emphasising the importance of preventing under-age purchases. The Government are working with the national supermarkets, which have pledged to eliminate under-age sales by the end of this year. It also supports specific measures and initiatives including: 'PASS' (Proof of Age Standards Scheme) age verification cards; schemes that reward good licensed premises management, including 'Best Bar None'; and the 'Challenge 21' approach now commonplace in supermarkets.
	The Government also support rigorous law enforcement and has introduced a range of powers for dealing with under-age sales ranging from fixed penalty notices to the review of premises licenses.

Under-age Drinking

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many summonses were issued in Swindon for selling alcohol to minors as a result of test purchase operations and visits between 12 November 2004 and 24 December 2005;
	(2)  how many test purchase operations to target underage sales of alcohol were carried out by police and trading standards officers in Swindon between 12 November 2004 and 24 December 2005.

Hazel Blears: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 14 March 2006, Official Report, column 2123W.

Wildlife Crime

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the resources available to police officers for tackling wildlife crime; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: It is for individual Chief Constables and Police Authorities to make any appropriate assessment regarding the availability of resources to Police officers for tackling wildlife crime.

Unlawful Telephone Tapping

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the incidence of unlawful telephone tapping in (a) public sector and (b) private sector organisations; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: Under section one of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, it is a criminal offence for a person intentionally and without lawful authority to intercept any communication in the course of its transmission. Available details on prosecutions for unlawful interception are set out in the following table.
	
		Number of defendants prosecuted at magistrates court, found guilty and sentenced at all courts for unlawful interception of postal, public or private telecommunications scheme, in England and Wales, 2000 to 2004(25)
		
			  Prosecuted Not guilty Found guilty Conditional discharge Fine Community sentence 
		
		
			 2000   
			 2001   
			 2002 3 2 1  1  
			 2003 4 1 3 1  2 
			 2004 4 2 4   4 
		
	
	(25) These data are on the principal offence basis.
	Source:
	RDSOffice for Criminal Justice Reform
	Ref IOS 08906